The Nanny
by SallSall
Summary: He's the guy everyone wants to know and get acquainted with; she's a girl desperate to finally spread her wings and leave home. He's dark, sexy, surprisingly sweet and single; she's fiesty, quick witted and complicated. She happens to apply for a certain job and lands it, not aware of the unexpected things that might accompany it. They're along for the ride no matter what happen
1. Chapter 1

***All rights and claim The Nanny as original****work****belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names and characters belong to James Patterson. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.***

**This is my first story for Fanfiction, so bear with me. Hopefully you like it :)**

**2012: I am going through this story, and I may be adding in chapters, also deleting and a lot of rewording. Hopefully I'll be happier with it after this edit.**

My father looked at my younger sister Ella with his lips pressed tightly together as he paced up and down the polished floor boards with his hands behind his back. We were currently crowded into his private study in a very uncomfortable atmosphere.

Ella was seated in the simple black chair, Nudge, my other sister, and I perched on the edge of the desk and a few trusted personnel stood quietly by the walls.

He usually let her constant partying, late nights and slightly slutty dresses slide, and was a pretty relaxed guy, but business had been stressful and he was in the middle of a huge deal that could explode in his face any moment.

"That was the last straw, Isabella. You are _fifteen _years old! From now on, you cannot see _that boy_. You are grounded - Do not even attempt to interrupt me, young lady! Now I certainly-"

Father's voice had started to raise and Nudge, hastened to intervene before things got bad. "Father, perhaps you should think about this before you-"

"-think your actions deserve consequences. You will go to school and come straight home until I think you understand _why _you are being punished."

Ella shifted in her seat, visibly holding back a protest and she crossed her arms with a glare. I itched the back of my neck. I wasn't going to take Ella's side on this one. She'd been caught out drunk with a guy- an adult even- my age.

I couldn't understand where her sudden rebellious streak had come from, but I didn't want to be caught in a crossfire. Plus, I had a warm raspberry chocolate muffin to get from my favourite café and a cute waitress to talk to as I picked it up.

Nudge bit her lip and tentatively tried to reason further, with a soft touch to Fathers arm, but he ploughed on.

"You of course will require a new nanny. Your mother called and she advised that at your age she was much the same, always going against her parents, but it must be squashed out of you. Mrs. Morpeth, you are dismissed." He shooed out Ella's old nanny with impatience. She collected her two trunks, struggling a bit with the second one and I felt guilty. Facing Father's anger, I quickly motioned for Father's manservant, Reginald, to take her bags from her and helped her out the door where she left in disgrace.

Father clicked his fingers and another one of the servants came forward; Father's favourite servant to be precise. "I want an ad place in the newspaper- every newspaper- that the Nicols household wants a well experienced, over twenty year old and preferably female nanny."

"Yes, erm, of course, Mr. Nicols. Right a-away, Sir." Ari bowed.

"Thank you." Father started to wave him away, "Oh, and underneath it should state that all the people who are interested must be gathered here Tuesday next week, 9am sharp. That is all." Father returned his gaze to Ella. "I will not forgot let you off lightly this time. We shall see how you behave when the new nanny is picked and starts."

"But Father-"

"Enough! Go to your room. Like I said, you do stupid things, you suffer the consequences." With this Father let out a great sigh and sank down into his beige desk chair.

"If mother were here-"

She had crossed a line. It was well known that Father was still smarting over his wife leaving him and it was always the one snub that would always get a reaction from him. "Your mother and I have spoken." Father said coolly, and that was that. I had never ever seen him not rise to the bait.

"Ella." I interrupted in a low, warning tone, grabbing her wrist firmly and trying to drag her out of the room before she could dig herself a deeper hole.

"I am sorry for bringing up the topic, Father. I will do as you say. Good evening." Ella said through gritted teeth.

Father smiled, or rather, grimaced at us both. "Goodnight Ella, Fang. Nudge, please see your brother and sister to sleep."

I pulled a face as I pushed Ella out the open door. She was only two years older than me! And I was 21- officially an adult. I don't need to be _seen to sleep_. Nudge smirked in my direction and led us upstairs and around the corner into our 'common room'.

"Ella, what were you thinking? You got drunk! Of course Father would be angry. And don't think for a moment that if Mother were here, she'd stand by and let you bring shame to her reputation. She wouldn't hesitate to disown you."

Ella scowled, "I don't even remember that cow but she plays a _huge_ part in my life. She'd probably be happy I was securing myself a rich man. If either of you'd dated a bit older than you, dad would let you off with a warning."

She opened the door to her room and I raised a brow at her words. "You've had quite a few more warnings than either of us El," I noted dryly and smirked at her withering glance.

Nudge smiled brightly, also pushing open her room's door. "Anyway, Fang and I will be allowed to have a say in the new nanny. I'm sure we'll find you a good one. And lastly Ella, you shouldn't have gone out with someone Fang's age."

I shuddered at the thought of going out with a girl my sister's age.

Ella glared at us both once more, muttered under her breath and slammed her door shut. A nice ending to my night.

Nudge shot me a worried look. I snorted. "Ella the drama queen. She'll get over it."

"Night, Fang." Nudge shot me a sly look. "Aren't you going to get your _muffin_?"

Damn. "Shit! She'll think I blew her off."

**Sorry the chapters are so short, I promise to work on it. Feel free to review or just drop me a line. **

**Until next time,**

**SallSall**


	2. Chapter 2

***All rights and claim The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names and characters belong to James Patterson. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.***

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**AN:**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own MR or any characters I may or may not have included in this story.**

**Do I have to do this every chapter? I hope not.**

**Let's just assume I'm not JP unless I say so.**

**Okay? Deal :)**

**Here you go hungry readers...**

"Hey, Max!" yelled a too loud voice in my ear.

"You're ruining my sleep. GO AWAY!" I grumbled.

"Come on! I have something to show you."

"Shut up! Will you freaking LEAVE ME ALONE? Angel, take Iggy and Gazzy out of my room too. You losers are clouding up my air. And by losers, I mean LOSER. Gasman, that's toxic!" I yelled with my eyes clamped shut. I felt something papery get smashed onto my face.

"Uh! What is that, you freak?"

"It's the newspaper, Max. Open your eyes and look at this ad. I mean you need a job, right? And you're good with teenagers and you're over 20- just."

"Hell yeah, I am. Do you ever give up, you twerp? Show me the damn thing if you have to."

Angel beamed so hard I could practically feel it. She eagerly pointed to a little square box. "Nicols household looking for an over 20, good with teenagers, preferably female nanny," she read. "Meet at the Nicols' mansion Tuesday the 11th, 10am sharp. That's today!"

"What's so special about this job?" I asked.

Angel's jaw dropped. "Don't you know who the Nicols are?" Gazzy and Iggy rolled their eyes and darted out around the corridor before the raving could start. I knew who they were, who doesn't know when one of the 20 richest people live in your city, but just to infuriate Angel (who loved the family. For example, her idols were the 15-year-old Ella and the older sister, Nudge. Oh, and she had an unhealthily major crush on Fang, the older brother.) I replied, "Nup. Who?"

Angel choked on air and shrieked. "Clam down! Just kidding. God! I vaguely have heard about them. But no, I don't _know_ them."

Angel glared at me. "You're applying for that job, Max and that is that. Oh no! We have less than an hour! Come on!"

She dragged me, literally, out of bed. Wow, little 15 year olds can drag their big 20-year-old sisters out of bed if it's about something they want, but they can't even open a stupid water bottle lid half of the time!

Several clothes I hadn't worn since- scratch that, I'd NEVER worn- were tossed at my chest. Black tights? A short, tight business-like skirt, a white, collared shirt and black high heels.

"In your dreams, Angel." I would never, ever wear this. Angel raised an eyebrow. Damn! I hate it when she does that because I can't!

"You are so wearing that. There'll be thousands of people there, why would they pick you? No offence, but you kind of have that 'girl next door' thing going for you. You're nothing special."

Well that hurt- not! "Oh! I am wounded by thy's offensive-"

Angel laughed and punched me. That really did hurt. "Look, I'm only fifteen but I know you'll get picked if you wear this suit. How cool would it be if you got the job? Ella and I could be the best of friends and I could see F-"

I pressed my finger to her lips and quickly got changed. As I sprinted through the front door, I made a mental note to trim the overgrown hedge by the gate.

"See you later!" I called as I got into my old bomb of a Discovery. "Uh!" I complained. I took off the shoes so I could actually press down the accelerator. I floored it…

**AN.**

**So... Thank you so much to everyone who added my story to favourite and story alerts!**

**I'm glad you like my story.**

**I'd be even happier if you guys could review coz I got only one review, but that's good :)**

**Tips and stuff how to make my story better or what you do and don't like...**

**That'd be AWESOME peeps!**

**Umm... Yeah, so review and be watching for the next chapter! (probably next weekend- sorry!)**

**Again, sorry for the short chapters, I admire anyone who can type a lot of type at one time, because i know i can't.**

**Peace Out,**

**SallSall.**

**P.S. Any of you seen The Prince of Persia? I have... i luuuuuurve it.**

**I recommend it to anyone and everyone. Byez. xoxo**


	3. Chapter 3

***All rights and claim The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names and characters belong to James Patterson. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.***

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**AN: Hi guys!**

**Disclaimer: I was told by my friend that you had to do this every time- unfortunately. :(**

**Anyways, I still am not James Patterson, I don't own any of the Maximum Ride characters that may or may not be mentioned in this story.**

**There! DONE, FINISHED.**

**So, here's the next chapter...**

**I hope you likey likey :p**

"Okay! How are we going, Ari?" Father asked.

"Well, Sir. It seems there are many accumulating nannies outside. Shall we let them into the drawing room?"

"Yes, get the doors, Ari."

"Yes, Sir." Ari bustled out and opened the double doors. Almost immediately, people were filling up the room. Most were ladies, but there were a few men, I suppose hoping to get lucky. Ha! When Father prefers something, he basically wants no other. So when he says preferably female, he means 'I don't want to hurt your feelings, but females ONLY.'

"Okay, Nudge, Fang, mingle and socialise. It will help get an idea of personalities and whether the person might be suitable for the job." Father instructed.

"Yes, Father." Nudge sang, gracefully moving away and talking to a few people. I went in the other direction.

"Hello!"

"Are you Fang Nicols?"

"Umm… Excuse me, but aren't you Fang Nicols?"

"Trying out to be a nanny?"

The last remark caught me off guard. I spun around and my breath caught. Standing- or more like leaning against the wall- in front of me was the most breathtakingly beautiful girl I had ever seen. And believe me; Father had presented me with many a pretty lady to go out with. Her perfectly shaped rosy-pink coloured lips were set into a deep smirk.

"I thought Mr Nicols preferred females?"

Why would this mysterious lady be asking if I were going to be a nanny? Obviously she didn't suppose Father would request so many people to come if I could be Ella's supervisor. Wait- she didn't know who I was. That was good. Every girl I'd gone out with wanted to be with me for my family fortune and title.

"Err… Hello?"

She waved her hand in front of my face. She rolled her eyes and smirked even harder.

"Off with the fairies. Well-"

She stopped talking as the room went silent. I heard Father clear his throat.

"Thank you, everyone for coming. We, uh, will start interviewing promptly…"

The girl muttered under her breath, partly to me, "I wonder what he's actually like. Pompous, spoiled, posh? I wonder what he'll treat the poor lady who lands this job like. Do you think he'd act above me if I got the job? I mean, I'm just me. Probably."

Father's speech came to an end. "…And I'd like to welcome my son Fang and my daughter Nudge to the front."

The girl craned her neck, obviously curious to see who was who.

"That'd be me." I whispered and started making my way to the front. I had the satisfaction of seeing her widen in shock and her totally carefree attitude was gone. Her lips formed a perfect 'O' and there was a slight panic to her eyes. At that moment, she was an open book. I smiled inwardly.

"Err, Mr Nicols! I am such a big fan, if I could just have an autograph-"

"NEXT!" yelled Father. Nudge glanced at me, quirking an eyebrow.

"Hello, I'm here to apply to be a cook or your personal servant."

"What? You imbecile! NEXT!"

"NEXT!"

"NEXT!"

"NEXT!"

"How old are you? Twelve? NEXT!"

"NEXT!"

"NEXT!"

"NEXT!"

"Oh, if I had a gun…NEXT!"

"NEXT! No, actually, I want a break." Father announced.

Ari came in, "Sir?" Ari looked nervous.

"Can you PLEASE go out there and get rid of all the men and under 20 year olds? Oh, and how about asking all the over 60 year olds to leave, too? Thankyou Ari. I fear our day will be long enough already; we don't need the definite 'no nos'."

"Yes, Sir. Tea will be in soon as well."

Father seemed to be struggling to keep on a poker face.

"So?" Ella demanded. "Any luck?"

All three of us shook our heads. Ella sighed. "And it's only 11am. There are plenty more to go." She sighed again.

**I hope you liked it! I was inspired by this show 'Big Time Rush' about the audition thing.**

**Yay! I've got 6 reviews. Any peeps who ****still ****haven't reviewed, press the button**

**and stop being lazy. I don't care if you only write one word- or nothing at all-**

**actually, I don't know if you can literally post nothing and submit it? Anyone?**

**Anyway, any tips on where I should take this? Should they 'fall in luuuuurve'?**

**I want to make it that they start off hating each other- or Max hates Fang- but then they realise** **something...hint, hint. :) Good idea? Contribute ideas if you have any.**

**Constructive feedback would be nice too.**

**Sorry if I'm ranting and raving.**

**Look, I'll stop raving and you review. Deal? OK!**

**Peace out,**

**SallSall**

**P.S. Sorry about any typos. My friend said there were lots. Hope you can still understand it! Byez. xoxo**


	4. Chapter 4

***All rights and claim The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names and characters belong to James Patterson. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.***

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**An: Hi everyone!**

**Sorry for taking so long to update...**

**I don't really have an excuse, i was just lazy :).**

**Disclaimer: I you think I am James Patterson, after all the disclaiming and promising I'm NOT him,** **you are crazy. :)**

**No, I haven't miraculously changed gender and aged a lot and become the author of Maximum Ride!**

**(I'm never going to be James Patterson)**

**On with the story...**

The spacious room was lined with couches and soft seats. Great. I'd been slagging about Mr Nicols to his own son without knowing it. I'm sure that's got me off to a great start! Anyway, the butler/servant guy had just come out again, asking for yet another person to go in, (I'd say roughly 300 people had gone in and come out) he requested that all the males, younger than 20 and over 60 year olds leave now because quote 'my master is getting quite frustrated and tired.' A few more left.

Everything was silent for a while. The butler/servant came out again. "Mr Nicols is ready for the next person. Anyone? Ma'am Okay, you can follow me." I'd volunteered to go; it was getting pretty boring here and everyone else looked as if they'd wet themselves in nervousness.

I walked quite steadily, considering the shoes I was wearing. Thanks heaps, Angel. Thanks a lot! We went down a hallway.

Ari bowed and opened a door for me. "Thank you." I murmured, astounded at the beauty of this new room. I swore under my breath. There were cream coloured walls painted with individual rose vines. The patterns wove and twisted around each other like optical illusions. And then there was the simple side of the room. In the corner of the room there was a beige coloured desk with a loveseat on either side.

On the opposite side, Mr Nicols, I presumed, sat on the seat and a boy, The Boy I'd talked to, and a pretty, graceful lady who I took for his daughter stood on either side of him.

"Please, take a seat." Oh he was a gentleman then? Perhaps I had assumed wrongly.

"Thank you."

"And your name would be…"

"Oh, my name is Maximum Ride." I supplied.

"Maximum…Ride?" he tested it out and started laughing. "Oh, ha ha! Very amusing young lady." His face straightened out again. "I am being serious. What is your name…Maximum?"

"I'm serious, too! It's Maximum Ride!" He laughed out loud again.

I think I had an offended look on my face because Mr Nicols' daughter, Nudge, I think it was, elbowed him and whispered, "Father! I think she's telling the truth."

Mr Nicols stopped laughing abruptly. "Oh. I do beg your pardon. I am truly very sorry. I apologise with extreme sincerity, Miss…Ride." I stayed silent. He coughed into his palm to disguise what I though sounded suspiciously like a chuckle.

Honestly, what was wrong with all these people in the world? Maximum Ride was as ordinary as any other name. John Smith, Maximum Ride. I usually get mistaken for a boy on class roles at the beginning of new years and when I answer to 'Maximum Ride', the teacher always peers at me funny, but I just don't get it.

"Okay! Where were we? Oh, yes. Can I see your ID? For age. I thought my butler just told everyone under 20 to leave…"

"Sure! Whatever floats your boat, I suppose." I fished out my Driver's licence from this strappy, weird handbag. Grr…Angel. Part of my shirt got caught in the buckles of the bag. Don't lose it. Don't lose it. Don't lose it, I prayed. "Sh…oot!" I said quietly and the fabric came loose- just as it was about to tear. My cheeks were burning. I handed over the licence.

"You're twenty?" Mr Nicols said, shocked. Nudge and her brother tried to hide their surprise.

"Yes." I answered, sticking out my chin.

"Well then, *very deliberate cough, cough * how are you good with moody teenagers?"

"I have three teen siblings. I'm used to them. I have practically raised them- my parents attend and host lots of charity events. They're on a mission to save the world. And animals. So sometimes mum is away on a 'field trip' and dad goes out; guess who'd stuck babysitting? No brainer." Another eyebrow raising answer. What? What was I supposed to say? Seriously, any suggestions? Coz, I'm totally open here. Help me out!

"Thank you. I guess that's it really. Look in tomorrow's paper to see if you got the job. There will be a number if it is indeed you. Good day."

"How did it go?" Angel persisted.

"Fine! Now would you please go away?"

"What were they like?"

"Fine."

"What was the mansion like?"

"Fine!"

"Will you stop saying 'fine'?"

"Fine."

"Go eat poo."

"No way! And leave me alone, you've had your question time."

Angel just laughed merrily. "For someone so small you sure are damn hugely annoying." I commented. "I'm going to close my eyes and _catch up on some sleep __someone _deprived me of this morning. You'd better be gone." I said meaningfully at Angel. She shrugged and went to annoy someone else.

"Max! Max! Look at this!"

"What is this? Project wake-Max-up-before-6-am-every-morning?" I demanded.

"Look!" I opened one eye and sat up.

"Great! I'm in the retarded newspaper! I got hired as the nanny. Whoop-di-freaking-doo."

Angel frowned. "You could sound more excited. Anyway, you have to ring them. Dunno why."

I dialled the number listed.

"Good morning! How may I help you?"

You can't, I though darkly, I'm past saving. "Um…this is the new nanny. I was told to ring…"

"Oh, yes. You will, of course be expected to live here. You no doubt have some possessions and necessities you would wish to bring. Pack them into a case. You are expected to be here 10 am sharp, ready to start. See you soon."

"But…" The line was already dead. "Bye….I guess"

**So... By the way, I don't really know who Max's parents are, they're just random.**

**And somebody pointed out, if Max knew who the Nicols were how come she didn't recognise Fang? Good question. I don't have an answer. Let's just say she'd heard of them but hadn't seen them.**

**Sorry, no wings, or aliens, for that matter.**

**Put any other questions you want answered in your reviews, coz i KNOW you're going review now!**

**And sorry if you think I'm dragging it out a bit now, I am. Max has to get used to everything before the twist comes and nasty stuff starts happening.**

**Peace out,**

**SallSall.**

**:p**


	5. Chapter 5

***All rights and claim The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names and characters belong to James Patterson. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.***

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**AN: thank you so much for all the feedback and reviews!**

**Luv ya guys.**

**Disclaimer: I am STILL NOT James Patterson. I suggest attending therapy sessions if you think i AM JP.- I most definitely am not!**

**So to say, therefore i don't own MR or anything that relates to it.**

**I do own my imagination and this story :)**

**Read on...**

"She's on her way, Sir." Ari reported.

Father clapped his hands and we all left the room.

"So?" Ella probed, coming out of her bedroom.

"Well, we narrowed it down to the 20 people Father _actually_ interviewed." I started.

"Then, we got pictures of those twenty so we could remember who was who. Father threw at least 11 photos straight into the bin." Nudge continued.

"So, we had nine nannies to choose from. Nudge and I got rid of three we felt were too unenergetic for you and Father got rid of four he thought weren't actually here for the job, but to get closer to us, the Nicols family."

"Finally, we went from hundreds to 2 possible nannies. There was a young, pretty one who claimed she was good with teenagers because she has three other siblings. The other, say, was 40-something, and Father quite liked her, except under closer inspection, it appeared she had a mole on her chin. Father said: quote 'Well, I do not wish to live with someone who has a mole for fear I will have the monstrous image forever scarred in my brain!' unquote." Nudge finished.

Ella shrugged. "The first one sounded okay. I've already had breakfast and I'm still tired, goodnight."

"Goodnight, sweetie."

"'Night Ells-or more like morning if you ask me." I ruffled her hair and went off to take a shower.

The doorbell rang just as I pulled on a T-shirt. I rushed out into the hallway towards the grand entrance and I stayed in the shadows to watch. One of our butlers opened the door. The mysterious Maximum Ride girl stood there, in her dark blue denim jeans and a yellow strappy top. She had a black jacket slung over her shoulder and pulled a dark suitcase, which one of the butlers immediately tried to take. "Err… no, I'll take it. It's fine." The butler didn't know what to do. He returned to his post.

Maximum walked down the hallway; I was still concealed by the shadows. I reached out and picked an apple from one of the many fruit baskets on the table next to me and munched on it while leaning against the wall.

Maximum's head snapped around. "Oh, it's you, Fang. The billionaire's son."

"Yep. That's me." I mock bowed. She didn't even crack a smile. "Smile much?" I commented.

"Perhaps my sense of humour is different to yours, Mr Nicols junior." She said coolly. She started past me and realised she had no idea where to go. She turned towards me, irritated. "Lead the way." She snapped, clearly frustrated. Grinning, I showed her to the Orange Guestroom- her room now. "Thank you." She said curtly. "Now, _goodbye_."

Jeez! At least she was nice to me the other day. It was as if she hated me now. Girls are so hard to decipher. My advice: Don't try and understand them.

"…And Ella this is your new nanny, Maximum Ride. Maximum, Ella."

"Hello, Maximum." Ella said sweetly.

Maximum winced, "Just Max, okay? Call me Max."

"But…Max? Max is a boy'-"

"Don't say it," warned 'Max'.

Ella shrugged. "Whatever." She took a breath and was about to speak when she was interrupted.

"I'm here to look after you, as you no doubt already know. Let's be friends, all right? I can be your best bud or your worst enemy. It's all up to you." Max informed. "My brothers learnt everything the hard way. Hopefully you're more like my sister in the sense you make both of our lives easier."

"How old is your sister?" Ella changed the subject.

"Uh, fifteen." Max responded, immediately guarded, "Why?"

"You have to bring her over!" Ella gushed. "We could become the best of friends! What's she like?"

"You." Max deadpanned. "Is it just you two or are all teenage girls nowadays so bouncy and 'let's be friends!' When I was fifteen, boy were things different!"

As soon as it was clear Max wasn't going to elaborate, Ella jumped in. "Just to let you know, I'm going to a party tonight." She looked over at me. "Father already knows, Fang. So don't be all 'Oh Father, Ella's going to sneak out again tonight.'" She once again directed her attention at Max. "Anyway, as I was saying. As my nanny, you must accompany me to the party, and then you have the night off until I call you, which will probably be in the morning. Then, you have to come and escort me home. Make sure you dress nicely. In fact, when we go to parties, I'll order in some nice dresses for you. What's your size?" Max shrugged and Ella jotted down some estimations in her sparkle pad. Ella found her phone and programmed Max's number into it while Max recited. "Now get out!" Ella snarled.

Max, I and some other servants hurried out. Max looked confused. "Mood swings." I said just as she said, "Puberty." She started walking down the corridor that led to the kitchens.

"You aren't expected to help in the kitchens." I called out.

Max turned around and went the right way muttering, "I need a map!" I chuckled. This was getting interesting.

After dinner and dessert, Ella bounded down the stairs in a mini dress, showing more than appropriate. She had heavy make up on and incredulously high shoes on. It was a wonder she didn't twist her ankle. Father stared disapprovingly at Ella.

"This is your last chance, young lady. You're extremely lucky that your new nanny allowed you to go out on her first night. A big risk, I'd say." I snorted. Max didn't exactly 'allow' Ella to go out; it was more Ella ordered Max to take her.

Ella grabbed a chair and dragged it to the bottom of the grand staircase. "What are we waiting for?" asked Father, also seating himself.

"A fashion show." Ella replied simply. I was about to ask what she meant but a bright orange sparkle coming down the stairs distracted me. Her face was the only non-sparkling thing and even it had a sort of shine to it.

"Too bright! Next one!" Ella shielded her eyes.

Next, Max come down in a green, orange and yellow swishy dress. "You look some someone was sick on you!" commented Ella.

"Funny, I was just about to say the same thing." I commented dryly. Max glared at me.

Max modelled about ten different dresses before she came down in a tight, strapless clingy blue dress. "Perfect!" Ella cried. Max had a single blue feather tucked behind her ear. I had to admit, she did look stunning.

Ella and Max were bustled into a limousine and we watched them drive away. "I hope Ella doesn't overdo it again. For the new nanny's sake." Father sighed and returned to his office mumbling incoherent phrases.

**AN: soo...get ready to PARTAY! Max's first night on the job.**

**Lots of people want to know what's happened to Max's siblings, so just 4 u guys**

**I added a bit to da next chapter about them. Some people say Make them fall in luurve**

**and others say DONT. I say I DONT KNOW. I'll make it up as i go along. :D**

**Anyways sorry if you are bored but I have to get Max settled down, like I said B4.**

**Review if you will and I will be happy, you'll get more chapters= everyone happy :)**

**Peace out,**

**SallSall- da author of dis peace rockin' story.**


	6. Chapter 6

***All rights and claim The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names and characters belong to James Patterson. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.***

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Hiyas!**

**Have you missed me? I missed all your reviews! (You guys are great with reviewing)**

**Anyone, first thing's first:**

**Disclaimer: Oh I do wish I was James Patterson and I definitely know if I WAS JP Angel would be coming out-**

**no wait, scratch that, it would've already come out! Anyways, if you're so silly as to think I am** **JP, well, you my friend, need medical help. To keep things clear, I'm not JP and I don't own Maximum Ride either. (But I do wish, oh I do wish)**

**:)**

**Peace out,**

**SallSall.**

**P.S. Here's what happens to Gazzy, Iggy and Angel- or the start anyways. Sorry if it's boring but majority of you wanted it. ( to know what happened to da siblings)**

I stared around me at the insides of the limo and tried to act like I'd been in one before. Ella was totally relaxed, leaning into the soft leather with her legs crossed. I wondered what Angel was up to and if Iggy and Gazzy were with her.

I'd told Mum and Dad about the job possibility last night, after they'd got back from an event. Some 'world peace' thing or something like that. Before I'd left this morning, I told them that I had indeed got the job and would have to go live with the Nicols. They were a bit unhappy at the moving out part. Mum was all, "Will you be okay? What about your brothers and sister?" She thought about it for a second then said, "Actually, I think we can trust Angel to look after herself but not the boys. Oh, no way am I leaving those boys at home alone."

To which dad had replied, "Honey, Iggy is 15 and Gazzy is 14. They're not babies anymore."

Mum had immediately argued, "Yes but they would get out of hand and…"

"Ma-ax?" Ella whined.

"Huh?" I was jolted out of my reverie.

"I'm bored. Let's talk."

"Uh, sure. Oh! I have a request. You know how I have two brothers and a sister-"

"Um, I do now. I think it may have been mentioned before." Ella interrupted.

"Anyway, do you think your dad would mind if they came to-"

"Of course they can live with us! Or, for a while at least." Ella said, delighted at the prospect.

"Err. I was actually going to say vis…" I trailed off.

Ella made it clear it was the end of discussion. I didn't care that much. As long as those twerps didn't blow my job. I mean, come on! 500 bucks a day was pretty damn good deal, considering what I was required to do and that accommodation _and_ food _and_ clothes, etc. was all provided.

As we pulled up outside the looming black gates, I wasn't surprised to see many other limos also pulling up. There were bright fairy lights hung all over the trees, casting an eerie light all over the garden. It seemed that all the lights in the house were turned on.

I grabbed my coat as a footman opened the door for Ella. We both slipped out. "Is this normal for you?" I asked.

Ella looked indifferent. "Haven't you been to a party before, Max?"

As we walked down the path, I could hear and feel the music pumping out full blast. As the double French sliding doors, we were greeted by a woman.

"Hello Ella!" She studied me curiously, "And you must be the beautiful Nudge."

My cheeks flamed. "Err…I-I-"

"Mrs Henderson, meet Max. Max, Mrs Henderson. Max is my new nanny.

"Oh!" She half smiled. "Well, welcome in."

"Thanks, Mrs Henderson."

She blushed a little, easily embarrassed. "Please, call me Danielle."

I felt weird with the first name thing. "Uh, sure…Danielle."

We were ushered into a long hallway and had our coats taken. "Ok Max! See you later." Ella strutted away into the main room, it looked like. A huge, spinning disco ball hung from the ceiling. There was a long table with a variety of refreshments and snacks on top.

Couples danced and some little groups sat on the sofas scattered around, chatting. It smelt wonderful. Basically, apart from a few roaming adults, everyone partying was under 25.

I decided to keep an eye on Ella and entered the same room as she had moments before. A few wolf whistles made me look around for an especially attractive person.

"'Bonjour Mademoiselle." A youngish man approached me and with a start I realised the wolf whistles were for me. His blonde hair had the look 'I want you to think I don't care about my hair; it's messy.' But believe me; he would have spent hours in front of the mirror getting every strand of hair just right.

"Hello to you, too." I tried to sound disinterested so he'd leave me alone.

"Playing hard to get, eh?"

I was about to scoff at the outrageous idea but I was interrupted.

"Dustin! I've got your wine."

Uh-oh. I recognised that voice. I slowly turned around. "Dustin I see you've met Max. Max, I thought you were taking the night off?" Hint, hint. Ella's eyes narrowed.

"So you're the Maximum Ride nanny?" Dustin mused. "I didn't get to introduce myself. Henderson, Dustin Henderson. Actually, the host of this grand partay." I snorted. Modest? I don't think so!

"I'll leave you two to it." I mock saluted and left Ella to herself.

Ring. Ring.

"Uh. Hi this is Max speaking." I croaked, yawning.

"Max?" Ella's voice was scared and small. I looked over at the clock.

"Ella? Uh, are you still at that p arty? It's 6am!"

"Yeah, I'm so sorry. I guess I was having fun partying away. It was all fine until a few minutes ago. Dustin and a few of his mates are a bit, well, drunk. They're trashing the place and all the adults have disappeared. I'm afraid someone will call the police. I can't be involved with the police again, Father would kill me! I'm really scared Max, please come and get me-"

There was a snap and a lot of static then a crunching sound.

"Ella?" I sighed. The line was dead.

As I was going out the door, Mr Nicols passed me.

"Going out with Ella?" I froze.

"Um, yeah. She's already out the door." In my mind, I was praying he didn't want to see her.

I saw Fang studying me. I gave him a look. He was okay, I had to admit. Gorgeous, rich and a charming personality. Wait- did I just think that? He lied to me about who he was on that first day. Well, I didn't exactly ask but he should have told me, right?

"Bye." I rushed out the door with my coat.

**AN:**

**So...? Okay with you? Sorry if you wanted to know what happens, but I had to get off the computer and it's about time for Fang to jump in.**

**Um...Oh yeah! Next week I'll be away, so no update for at least 2 weeks. Sorry! I'll make it up to you in the holidays.**

**Please review as I had a bad case of writers block ( partly the reason I took a while to update and I don't like typing chapters if I don't have an idea of the storyline of the chapter) I need your help! Please send me tips, suggestions and criticism and, of course, notes that you love my story! ( or me)**

**Again, sorry for typos. I have been told they aren't major. Phew! Thank you to the person who told me you actually can't put nothing in a review but if you really can't be bothered, just type * for good and ~ for bad.**

**Peace out my faith full readers,**

**SallSall, the author of this story. xoxo :p**


	7. Chapter 7

***All rights and claim The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names and characters belong to James Patterson. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.***

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Hey everyone,**

**I'm back. Muh hahaha! Anyway, I just saw that I have a total of 3218 hits so far! YAYAYAYAYAYAY! I'm soooooooooo happy. Luv you guys (platonically, not really. Heck, I don't even know most of you!)**

**Disclaimer: (why do we HAVE to do this?) If you haven't read all my other disclaimers, you might think I'm James Patterson. I can assure you- I'm NOT! I never will be (unless I change my name, gender, grow a moustache or whatever, age a lot etc. Therefore, I don't own Maximum Ride. Phew!**

**On with the story…**

Max hustled a swaggering Ella in the door. Ella was giggling hysterically and tottering in her high heels. Obvious for everyone to see, she was drunk. Max looked impatient as she hauled Ella behind her up the hallway. "Do you need Nudge? She's good with these sorts of situations." Max looked up and saw me for the first time.

"No, thank you. Ella will be fine." I followed Max up the hallway to the stairs where she tried to pull Ella up the stairs. I stood back, as if to catch Ella if she fell. Max couldn't get Ella onto the first step, let alone up the grand staircase. With a scowl, Max turned to me, "Help, please."

"Huh? I didn't hear you." I said, cupping my hand to my ear.

Max glared, "Fang, can I please have your help?"

"Much better." I helped her drag Ella upstairs to her room. I watched silently as Max clucked around Ella and tucked her into bed. Ella would've been embarrassed if she hadn't been drunk. I went into the sitting room when Max began to tug Ella's newly acquired coat off.

"Phew!" Max collapsed into one of the comfy seats next to me. She stretched out her long body. Wow, her body sure was tantalising. She was still wearing last night's dress. It had wriggled up to show more of her legs than she would've normally been comfortable with.

"It's rude to stare." Max remarked dryly.

"I wouldn't call it _staring_," I interjected.

"Save it. You were so staring. Admit it."

"I was NOT star-" I persisted, Max just laughed.

"You know what?" Max decided. "I didn't get a proper sleep last night. I'm going to rest. Call me if she wakes up." She said, casting a look at Ella's closed door.

"Sure."

I rested my hands behind my head, replaying out conversation. Had I imagined it, or had Max actually expressed some interest in me? It must have been me, I concluded, casting the thought aside.

"Hello again Maximum." Max winced. Father continued, "I hope you are settled in well. Our last meeting was anything but detailed and I should like to express our terms of employment further. We've already discussed money. Next is working hours. I shall type up a schedule for you of Ella's timetable every week. Of course, your job is to accompany and look after Ella. If she is at home or with no need of supervision, you are free to do as you please. Please, treat this place like your home." He must be kidding. Ha ha! I don't think you want me to do that, Mr Nicols.

"Then there is the issue of your siblings. I have agreed to their stay for a while. -If your parents agree, that is." Father paused, probably trying to remember if there was anything else. Apparently satisfied, Father stood up. "Miss. Ride, if you would kindly read this contract and sign it that would be grand. Lunch will be served soon. Maximum, you'd better phone your household soon…"

I caught up with Max. "Siblings?" I wondered aloud.

Max frowned slightly. "Yeah. Got to warn you about my sister Angel. Fifteen, aspiring fashionista and very much crazy about you Nicols children."

"Should I be scared?" I asked.

"Uh-huh. Most definitely." Max replied, with a tinge of flirtation. Good, she was in a cheery mood.

"Oh, by the way," I added, "Father forgot to mention school. Ella's vacation ends this week. Come on, I'll show you the full house."

I took Max on a grand tour. She gasped almost every time we entered a new room. Finally, we got into the garden. My vision was taken over by the different shades of greens and spots of colour, which were flowers. There was the pool off to the side. It was crystal clear today, and it shimmered as the sun reflected off the rippling water. Our synthetic grass tennis court was to the left, with a small length of asphalt with a basketball hoop behind it. Bu the centre of Max's attention was on our main feature, the water fountain.

It stood two metres tall with different layers of water spurting out from the centre into a circular tub, which then filtered back up into the top where the water restated its journey down again.

"Beautiful…" Max whispered, transfixed. I shrugged. It was okay, but the only thing I'd describe as beautiful at that moment was Max looking happy in her denim shorts and yellow tank top. It was impossible not to notice the faint outline of her black bra under the top and the way her long legs made my insides melt. I suddenly realised how bright her chocolate coloured eyes were and that they were framed with long, curled lashes.

The silence was pierced by Ella's voice, "Ma-ax!"

Max gave me a rueful smile, turned around and headed in.

"My first day of school! I mean, my first day of year nine!" Ella jittered around.

Max came in in her pyjamas and yawned. "Aren't you a bit old for nerves, Ella? Teenagers, these days! So immature." She sat down on a barstool and started chewing a piece of toast. "Oh My God! It's 8am. I have to get ready!" Max flung her half eaten toast onto the counter and rushed out. Lucky for Max, Father doesn't have breakfast with us, so is it informal- unlike dinner.

A few minutes later, Max was ready. She wore pretty much the outfit as the interview day. Her usual chestnut coloured with sun streaked dark blonde bits, wavy hair was up in a tight bun, making her look like, well, a nanny. Ella, who had been waiting at the door, bounded out into the chilly morning, leaving a still groggy Max to follow.

I walked back into the kitchen to find Max's younger sister, Angel, pouring a glass of juice. Her face turned bright red as she noticed me. "Uh. H-Hi F-Fang." She managed to stutter out. Angel amused me. It seemed my mere presence was enough to make her shy.

'Give her a few more days,' Max had warned everyone.

"Good morning, Angel."

"Oh my gosh! He remembered my name!" she gasped. I had to bite back a smile, which would indicate I'd heard that, which would embarrass her even further. She and Max were so unalike. If I had said 'good morning' to Max, she would have responded with, 'What's so good about it?'

"Shouldn't you and your brothers be at school?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. We are. Going to leave soon, that is. Igs, Gazzy!" she called. "There they, um, are. W-Well, uh, bye then!" Angel darted out. Ella hadn't met Angel yet, although she was dying to. The siblings had only arrived yesterday and Ella had come home late with a grumbling Max. We wouldn't allow her to disturb them this morning either.

I walked out the front with the three and heard another limousine pull up behind me. I didn't bother to turn around, figuring it would be one of Father's many clients. "See you later." I returned inside with the image of Angel's face on my mind. I started laughing. I found myself still chortling when I came across Max sitting in the reading room, reading a magazine or book.( I couldn't tell) She gave me a look that said, 'WEIRDO' in big, capital letters. I didn't know she was home. That was extremely quick.

"What-" I began.

"What am I doing home? Well, there wasn't much traffic."

"Where-" I tried again.

"Where is your father? He went out to meet someone called, um, Golda, or something."

"Why are you-" I expected her butting in this time.

"Why am I reading? Well, I don't want to redo high school with Ella. Been there done that. I've already organised Ella's events for later and I've even cleaned her room- don't tell her that- and mine, coz she wouldn't let the maid come in and it was a pigsty."

"Will you-"

"Will I quit interrupting you? No." Max said sweetly.

I shook my head, frustrated beyond words. "So that means-" I stopped waiting for her to continue.

Max titled her head studying me, "Yep, we're alone except for a few servants, yada yada." Max raised her eyebrows, "Why?"

"You're psycho." I said as I brushed past her.

I heard her reply as I made my way to have shower, "Yes, some might say that. Others call it pure, unadulterated genius…"

**Hiya!**

**From now on in the bottom AN, I will pick a review to display. (Encourage you to review!) And answer them or comment, whatever. ( this chapter had a few coz I just started.) This is also coz I like to reply to comments but usually the person isn't logged on.**

**FangandMaxlover24: OK. I will try to bring in Max's family more. The last chapter was for peeps that requested Angel, Iggy and Gazzy to come with Max.**

**21reeree21: Great ideas! Don't worry, there'll be some romance soon. I have it all planned out and written (pen and pencil) Just a matter of typing and getting time on the computer. But it won't be happy get together for them. You wait and see!**

**( ): I'm sorry you are confused by my story. I'll try and make it more understandable… I will try my best, that's all I can do. Again, sorry everyone for the real short chappies- I admire anyone who can type for a long time while still keeping the readers entranced. They are getting longer, if you've noticed. Thank you!**

**Last one for today, MaxRideFreak: thank you for your extraordinarily long review! Okay, I don't really want to make them hate each other and yes, I'll try not to make it cliché to other fanfics! Sorry again for all the typos. I'm a fast and non-accurate typer. (Much why I prefer pen and paper to computer but oh well) Thanks for your review.**

**Thank you to everyone who *ed. hopefully it'll be your review that I comment on next time. (If you want that sort of stuff)**

**Peace out,**

**SallSall- your faithful author just back from vacation.**


	8. Chapter 8

***All rights and claim The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names and characters belong to James Patterson. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.***

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Hi! These longer chapters take more time to type …so, sorry. It's one or the other. LONGEST CHAPTER EVA! WOOHOO!**

**Disclaimer: Look here, buddy. If I were James Patterson, author of many best sellers, would I be wasting my time on fanfiction? I think not! So, in case you don't understand, IM NOT JP!**

"Hi Max!" Ella greeted me at the front gate. There was a loud buzz with all the just dismissed students pouring out from every door. There were groups of high school kids everywhere! A bunch of girls caught my eye. As soon as they walked out of the gate pulled their skirts up and undid the top few buttons of their shirts. They retied their hair in messy piles and unclipped their shoes. The guys hanging around them looked like they had been run over by a lawn mower and stuck all the hair they could scavenge and find back on. It was probably the 'latest style'. They all had theses weird sly expressions on.- Cut a long detailed, description short, they looked like thugs and were super ugly.

"Hi Ella, come on, your piano teacher's waiting." Ella waved to a cluster of giggling girls wearing their short cheerleading outfits. Mostly pretty and thin, I observed. We walked around the corner to where the limo was parked. This morning Ella had begged that we didn't park out front because it would attract attention

"Oh, it was awesome! My teacher's are good and I was really popular today. It seemed anybody I didn't already know wanted to be my friend."

I rolled my eyes. "Hmm ...I wonder why that is." I said sarcastically.

Ella was unperturbed. "And there was this cute guy who sat in my row…" blah, blah. I tuned out. Some small part of me was still listening but most of what I had to endure went in one ear and straight out the other. "…He has these gorgeous eyes…" Blahdidah. I had to pretend to pay attention the whole ride home.

As soon as the limo stopped outside the Nicols' gate, Ella burst out of the door like a bird being set free. "Mrs. Gray, I'm here!" she called up the stairs. I heard the click clack of Ella's school shoes and followed the sound. When I finally found the right room, a confused Ella sat by herself in the small room. BY HERSELF. No one else. "Where's Mrs., um, Grate? She called to say she was on the way."

Ella shrugged and then corrected me. "It's Mrs. _Gray_." Just then, both of our phones beeped in synchronisation. I checked the message.

'_Ella and Maximum,_

_I'm terribly sorry I can't attend Ella's piano lesson. _

_I just found out my only son was involved in a serious car accident._

_I'm going to the hospital to see him._

_Once again, sorry. I will see Ella hopefully next week._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Ellen Gray.'_

My first thought was, who texts so formally? "So…what do you want to do now?"

Ella pondered awhile, then her face lit up. "Oh My God, Max! You can sing, right? Well, that silly, everyone can sing but it's whether they sound good or not. Can you play piano, too? Bet you can."

"Um, yeah." I said uncomfortably.

Ella nodded, contemplating. "Will you play and sing something for me? A classic please." Before I could protest, Ella added, "It's what Mrs. Gray does for me."

"Is it?" I asked incredulously. "Singing? Piano teacher?" Ella turned on me with those huge bambi eyes. Oh, God. "What the hey, sure."

My fingers moved over the keys easily. I sang and played a song Angel had used to beg me to play before she went to bed. Personally, it'd gotten old and I was a little sick of it.

"'Why are there so many songs a-bout rainbows,

and what's on the other side?

Rainbows are visions,

But only illusions,

And rainbows have nothing to hide.

So we've been told and some choose to believe it,

I know they're wrong wait and see.

Someday we'll find it, the Rainbow Connection,

The lovers, the dreamers and me…'"

I stopped abruptly as I heard the door open. Ella's mouth was wide open and she was smiling like she'd just won the lottery.

"She'd good, huh, Ells. When will you be able to play like that?" Ella managed to nod in agreement. Suddenly, she snapped out of her daze. "Max, you're so good! Is that, like, your favourite song?" Ella gabbled, noticing her brother.

"Err… Actually, it was the only song that would make my sister, Angel, stop crying and go to sleep when she was younger."

"Oh." Ella shrugged. "Cool! Angie's so lucky to have a sister like you, Max!" I raised my eyebrows. 'Angie?'

"Gee, thanks Ella!" I said while Fang said, "Thanks, Ella." Sardonically.

"Hey," Fang used the moment of silence. "Can you play guitar, or drums?"

"Well, yeah. I can." They both looked impressed. Fang led Ella and I down the hallway, into a room pretty much like mine, except for the colour theme and the fact that somebody else's stuff was around. (clothes and books, basically)

Ella paused at the door. "Laters. I don't need to see you show off, Fang." She stalked away and I could hear her footsteps clattering away from us. Fang grabbed my arm and towed me into another room. "WOW. Awesome!" I pulled free of him and took in this new place. In the centre, it had a metre high stage. The stage was fully equipped with a drum set on the back corner, a few electric guitars plugged into a boom box and microphones placed there for singers. I could see a slightly open door leading under the stage and it had a keyboard and a stereo system. I bet there were even more instruments and the controls for the lights and special effects under there too.

"What is this place?" I turned around but Fang was nowhere to be seen. From the stage there was a cloud of smoke from the stage and there was Fang. Oh, I'd have loved to see all the gadgets it had. He grinned at me. "Cool, right?" He put a hand down to help me up. "Come on up." I stepped up onto the stage-or tried to. My first leg got halfway before I heard a bad ripping sound. "Oh sh*t!" I'd forgotten about the 'nanny' skirt I was still wearing. The fabric had torn all the way up my thigh. "Oh, well. It adds a little flair to my outfit. Damn! And I thought I had the 'polite and graceful' thing down pat!"

Fang snorted, and for that, I yanked down hard on his outstretched hand. With a yell, he fell off the stage- onto me. "Uh! That was so not planned!" I wheezed. I made the mistake of looking into those dark eyes. I found myself enjoying the way he looked at me. Fang started leaning down towards me. At the last minute, I turned my head. "Okay! Well, see you around!" I hastily stood up and brushed past a dazed-looking Fang.

I avoided Fang like the plague. I could feel his gaze on me at dinner. "Hey Max!" Angel and Ella wanted to show me a fashion show or something but I backed out, knowing Fang'd be there.

"Um, I tired. 'Night!" I gave Angel's locks a smooth down and hugged her. As I passed Iggy and Gazzy, I ruffled their hair. I didn't feel guilty blowing off my siblings or Ella. We'd already had a LONG chat. Angel went red every time she saw Fang; it was extremely funny. Iggy and Gazzy loved the science lab in the mansion. Apparently, they both had small crushes on Ella. Ha, the poor suckers. Everyday, when we picked Ella up from school, all I ever heard was, "…This cute boy this…" "That handsome guy did that…"Sorry, bros but you have a lot of competition and only a little bit of a chance.

A few weeks passed. Every time Fang looked my way, I'd look down or pretend to be fixated with something else. But like Angel once said, 'Nothing can last forever.'

Fang, along with his dad and sister, were absent from dinner that night. Relieved, I stayed up playing monopoly with Angel, Ella, Iggy, Gazzy and . She was a fairly aged lady with a plump face and rosy cheeks. She was kind and good with children. After Iggy won and Gazzy accused him of cheating and demanded a rematch, we all went of to do our own things. I still got lost in the huge mansion; about twice every day. After one wrong turn, which led to the discovery of a series of unexplored rooms and hallways, I found my room. (Finally!)

I still hadn't seen Fang, so I presumed he'd already gone out. Ella was at school and 'the cute boy from my homeroom' was taking her out on a date after. My brothers were doing some science competition thing after school and Angel was going to go and root for them. I had the house pretty much to myself. I was wearing my brown track pants and a black singlet. (No matter the weather outside, the Nicols' house temperature was always 'just right.')

I was curled up on one of the kitchen barstools reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. I heard footsteps at the door, and thinking it was one of the maids and my new friend, Nim, I glanced up. The eyes I looked up into weren't, in fact, Nim's, they were dark and teasing. His hair was all messy, as if he'd just woken up and he was wearing navy tracksuit pants. -ONLY pants. His chest was bare. Oh My God. I couldn't stop staring at his darn chest. I mean, you'd think a businessman's son (likely going to inherit the business) would be scrawny and a skinny beanpole, right? WRONG! He had what looked like a firm chest and an awesome six-pack. Not to mention his 'ceps, which were pretty impressive and strong. He had to have done bodybuilding I guessed.

"I thought it was you who told me it was rude to stare." Fang mocked. I poked out my tongue.

"Do you do body building or something?" I blurted out.

He shook his head and flashed me a charming grin. "No. In my opinion, bodybuilding is a waste of money and effort. Though I must say we do have a lot of money to waste. No, these are gained from exercise and sports, I think."

There was an awkward pause. Fang cleared his throat. "Look, Max. If I have offended you in any way, I'm terribly sorry." As he said this, he stepped closer. When we were inches apart and I was looking up at him, he bent his head down and I began to close my eyes when Ella burst in, oblivious to her surroundings.

"Hey, Max, Fang! Jesse asked me out to a ballroom dancing event his parents are going to. Naturally, you have to accompany me, Max and Fang can go as your escort." She paused, apparently leaving the best bit for last. Jesse? What happened to Dustin, I wanted to know. "I don't know how to ballroom dance, so we're going to take lessons!"

"We?" I squeaked, a tone higher than normal.

"Yup! Fang, you and me!" Ella clarified. Oh, great.

**Yeah, so… I hope you're all grateful that I'm typing so much in between my piles of homework. Gr… French and Chinese. In case you guys haven't noticed, everyone is a sort of OC…so don't complain that 'Max's hair isn't chestnut' yada yada. I know that. Trust, me.**

**Hope you liked it! My fingers are gonna drop off.**

**Reviewer of the chapter: This was too hard to decide. I'll mention a few short ones.**

**Ember Filled Mist: Don't worry; there'll be a Nudge rant later on! Thankyou.**

**Book Maniac13: Sure, Max likes him too. You'll see.**

**Percabethfax97 and CrazyNerdyFangirl: Sorry if it's not original. I try to make it all my ideas. **

**Ally: I'm glad you thought the last line was funny.**

**Final one for last chapter, Iwashere: Thankyou for being a faithful reviewer to me!**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone, and I'll mention more names next time. SallSall out.**

**Peace out,**

**SallSall **


	9. Chapter 9

****All rights and claims for The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names, ideas and characters belong to James Patterson. You may only reproduce, copy, use SallSall's work, writing, quotations or ideas with personal permission from SallSall. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.****

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. After their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Hilo everyone! **

**I'm sorry there was a bit of a break but mum's a bit of a computer hog and I'm totally obsessed with another fanfic ;Highschool Ride. You guys should read it; it's on my fav list. Anyways, I'm sorry to everyone who reviewed and gave me fabulous isead coz I couldn't use them...I'd already written the chapter. I tweaked it a tincy bit so, yea, we'll see.**

**I'm totally nervous about this tennis comp I'm playing on Sunday. I'm like a reserve and I've never had to play before but now I'm all worried I'll let my team down! Anyways, you all probs dojn't wanna hear my problems. I AM FREAKING OUT HERE, PEOPLES. French is ALL DONE yippee!**

**Disclaimer: I don't think I need to say anyhting do I?**

"Are you sure I have to dance?" Max whined. "Can't I just, like, sit over there or something and watch you? I know how to freaking sway! 'Sides who will you dance with? You can have Fang and I'll stay on to the side! All sorted." Max moved towards a bench along the studio. Ella's hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

"I've already organised a partner for myself. You have to dance with Fang. Anyway, ballroom dancing is different to pop dancing." Ella said sweetly whilst glaring. She suddenly grinned. "And just because my brother might have long, sharp teeth it doesn't mean he bites." I ignored her jab at my name. Max sighed, clearly upset. Pouting made her look incredibly gorgeous in a tight, knee length red sparkly dress. She had on red open toed, high heeled sandals. When Ella had taken Max to choose her outfit, Max had persuaded Ella to let her buy sandals instead of the 6inch heels Ella had been looking at. "Oh My God, Ella! I'll twist my ankle. No freaking way!" Max had protested.

"Okay, everyone! Starting positions." Monsieur Laroche the dance instructor clapped his hands. "And a very warm welcome to ze Nicols children." He had a distinct French accent.

Our first dance was the tango. Max looked panicked as she copied Madam Lupan's (Laroche's partner) actions. At the end of learning all the basic steps, my toes felt numb. Those sandals hurt! Max had figured out how to add toe crushing into every movement. I think it was on purpose now. "I hate those sandals!" I groaned, trying wriggling my toes. Max shrugged modestly.

"I try, old fella but I can't seem to stay away from your toes." Curse you, I thought. By the fifth run through of the whole song, I was sweating. Wearing a tuxedo didn't help either. I'd had to take lessons before so I wasn't failing as miserably as Max. As I twirled her around, I saw Ella having a lot of fun with a young boy I took to be 'Jesse'. He had dark hair that was cropped and covered one eye. His uncovered eye was grey and looked at me slyly.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself more and causing me pain less. You're improving, too." I observed. Not that the dance steps were easy, I admitted to myself.

Max smiled pleasantly, "I've been know to make people fall over their feet. Not out of adoration either, it's because they can't feel and control their feet anymore. You're brave to dance with me." She stomped extra hard on my foot- as if to prove a point.

"Okay! Okay! Ve will resume ze tango next time. Au revoire." Monsieur Laroche and Madame Lupan bowed and left the room. Max sighed with relief as Ella towed Jesse over towards us.

"Oh, don't worry Max, our next lesson is tomorrow!" Ella said, thinking Max was sighing because, sadly, it had ended. Max groaned and I had to suppress a grin.

"Why?" Max demanded, her face facing the 'heavens'. I had to stifle and laugh. Ella invited her new boyfriend over and we hopped in the limousine.

"No police record." checked Father.

"As if!" Ella said.

"No suspensions or black marks." Father read off his list.

"Good school, lots of friends…" Father continued.

"I truly cannot believe you think Jesse would have a black mark on his record! He's perfectly good." Ella exclaimed.

"He'd just making sure, lil sis." I reminded her.

Nudge jumped in, "We don't want to risk anything. Or see you get hurt, Ells."

Ella looked stormy. "Fine. And thankyou. Although it wasn't necessary." She huffed out the door. I followed quickly. We went up the stairs to where Max was supposed to be with Jesse, except no one was there. I heard a small sound coming from another room and opened the door. There sat Angel, Jesse, Max, Gazzy, Iggy and Mrs. Todds (Angel, Iggy and Gazzy's nanny) watching a movie on the projection screen. Ella dragged Angel up and they ran back to Ella's room talking about 'girl stuff'.

Jesse stood up. "Well, I'd better go. Tell Ella I said bye." His slanting eyes assessed me as he walked by, already on his mobile phone. The other four hadn't looked away. I sank down next to Max and put an arm around her shoulder. She smelt faintly like strawberries. She snuggled up to me, resting her head on my arm.

…

"Well, Gazzy, Iggy, it is time for sleep. You have soccer early tomorrow morning. Goodnight Fang, Max."

"Goodnight Mrs. Todds." I responded. Max's eyes were closed lightly, making her long eyelashes stand out against her skin and she was breathing peacefully. Turning off the movie, I put a hand under Max's legs and neck and lifted her into my arms. I marvelled at how weightless and athletic her body was. I carried Max into her room and laid her onto the bed gently. (or I hoped)

"Goodnight, Max" I whispered before shutting the door softly and hurrying to my own room.

"Fang! Get up. God, you're so lazy!" Ella screamed, not far from my ear.

"Give me a tic." I mumbled. Satisfied, Ella stomped out of my room. I pulled the covers up even tighter.

"Fa-ang." Ella pried open one of my eyelids.

"Ow!" Ella shook my body. "Okay, okay! You've got my up." I yawned.

"Come on! We have ballroom dancing in half an hour."

"Uh-huh." I slowly stretched out.

"Max will be there!" Ella said. That got me motivated. Half asleep, I put on the tuxedo Ella had bought me. I quickly ran a comb through my hair and stumbled down the stairs. I was in need of some caffeine.

"Hi Fang." Max grumbled. "Ella, why do we have to go dancing again? I know the dance now, I'm fine." She rubbed her bleary eyes. "You and Angel, EVIL! I hate mornings."

Ella stamped her foot impatiently. "We're going to be late. And, Max, today is waltzing and the salsa. The actual dance is Monday night; two days away!"

Today, Max and Ella wore long, flowing dresses. Max's was blue and Ella's was pink. They had frills on the ends of the sleeves. Max had just visible trainers on underneath. I bet Ella hadn't seen them yet!

Max and I both had a strong coffee each. I instantly felt wide-awake. Max rubbed her arms. "Let's do this before I turn into an icicle. I don't care how high the heater is, I'm still cold in this dress." She almost walked out of the room without Ella seeing her shoes.

"Max!" Ella scolded. "Uh, uh, uh! Max was forced to go put on some black, shiny high heels. Max glared at Ella.

"Now look her, Missy. I'm in charge of you and I say-"

"But my father pay's you, so I say-" interrupted Ella.

"Both of you can be bosses. But right now, I'm the eldest and I'm TELLING you two to get into the limousine or we'll miss the stupid dance lesson!" I exploded, actually hoping they'd continue arguing and we'd miss the ballroom dancing.

"Hey, sorry about earlier. I'm not a morning person. Or a ballroom dancing girl either. OR a long, swishy dress person either, for that matter." Max added, frowning down at her gown. I smiled. It did look a little 'old lady' on her. (The dress) Something distracted Max and the point of her shoe slid on the polished floorboards and put her off balance, and she started falling backwards, until I caught her. Monsieur Laroche clapped and praised us, "Ah, wonderful! Perfect dip, Mr. Nicols. Tres bien!" Max blushed. I guess our little fiasco could've looked like a dip.

The dance class seemed to pass a bit faster than the day before. "Good Lord!" Max complained, rubbing her sore heels. "And to think we have to endure this torture again tomorrow!"

I heard the slam of the front door, which meant Ella was home and she had news. Ella raced around calling my name. She finally found me in the retiring room. "Fang! Angel and I tried out for the cheerleading squad, and guess what?"

"You got in?" Max said sarcastically as she walked in. "Anyway, how did you and Angel try out for the same team?"

"Well, it's my school's cheer squad. I invited Ange to try out with me. You know, I reckon your brothers are pretty cute. They could both be jocks." Max snorted and made a gagging sound. And let she let loose laughing until tears ran down her face.

Ella looked completely freaked out. "Whatever. I'm just so glad Ange and I got in! It's so cool. You should've seen the looks we got in our little uniforms. Mostly from boys." Ella giggled.

"I used to be a cheerleader." Max said wistfully. "Before I realised how sexist ii is and how it portrays your personality- or that's what I think." She said the last bit to me. I agreed silently with her. Cheerleading was just a bunch of girls in miniskirts waving pompoms and chanting. Oh well, if it made Ella happy…

"Ella!"

"Jesse!" They greeted each other and immediately started to sway to the beat. Max grabbed my hand and led me to the dance floor. She kept an eye on Ella for awhile- something I felt was my responsibility- before giving all of her attention to me. A great chandelier hung from the ceiling. The glass sparkled. A live orchestra played music in the centre of the humungous room. A lot of old couples danced on the wooden floor.

Max revised some of the moves we'd learnt. There were a few young adults sitting around talking on the banquet tables. Max only squashed my foot twice- a great improvement. After on hour we went and helped ourselves to drinks. There was fruit punch that was spiked weakly with alcohol. We had a glass each. "Mmm…"was Max's thought on its taste.

Max and I resumed our places. It was a slow song and Max rested her head on my shoulder. We spun in gradual circles. At the closing of the song, I tilted my head and leaned down towards Max for the third time. Max's eyelids closed and we were about to touch when, "Hey, Maxie." Max's eyes flew open and her lightly tanned skin paled considerably. I turned around. "Maxie, are you gonna introduce us?" A man of about 20 with blonde hair and bright blue eyes stood watching Max almost possessively. Max took a deep breath and nodded.

"Christopher, this is Fang. I, uh, work for his dad."

She wouldn't meet my gaze. "And Fang, this is Christopher. He's, um, he's my…boyfriend."

**Yup and that's it for now. I probably won't get to update till next week soz!**

**Reviewer of the chapter:**

**THEYELLOWROSE: This review was funny. And never underestimate funny. Yes, I do like pie. Why?**

**Runners up:**

**edwardismyromeo: Thankyou so much! I can pride myself on that.**

**fangmaxlover24: I'm sorry about breaking the fast pace. And I'm glad you wait for my story.**

**Next week's reviewers are dedicated to the short and sweet reviews that come in regularly. Luv yous all for reviewing (even if you haven't been mentioned YET)**

**How cool would it be if we reached 100 (hint hint!) I'm not that fussed anyhoo.**

**Laterz. And guys, it's not that stressfull to press the button and type * or anything else you might wanna express. That Nudge rant is coming up soon...Ember Filled Mist :).**

**Peace out,**

**SallSall. :p**

**P.S. Still totally FREAKING OUT! (tennis)**


	10. Chapter 10

****All rights and claims for The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names, ideas and characters belong to James Patterson. You may only reproduce, copy, use SallSall's work, writing, quotations or ideas with personal permission from SallSall. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.****

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Hey all!**

**I just finished reading Only the Good Spy Young. (Gallagher Girls 4) It was so good! But I hated the cliffhanger ending.**

**Sorry for the late update. Luv all the reviews and WOOHOO! I got past 100! Luv all you's who helped and contributed to the great number.**

**Here is the much awaited chapter...**

I peeked a look at Fang. He looked seriously angry touched with a bit of confusion.

"May I have this dance, Maxie?" Christopher held out his hand. His breath was tinged with wine. "Hey waiter! Can I have a glass of red over here?" he yelled over to where a man was carrying a tray with glasses of wine.

"Make that two." Fang added. Christopher's head whipped around to face Fang, an amused smile on his lips. He looked thoughtful then his features cleared again.

"How about that dance, Maxie?" Christopher persisted. I studied Fang's reaction but he had his poker face on.

"I don't really feel like dancing, Chris."

Christopher's face hardened and he grabbed my arm roughly. "Do you want to dance with your rich boy then?" he hissed in my ear. I could feel the uneasy looks Chris was receiving from the people surrounding us. I didn't answer. His behaviour was scaring me a little. He was usually extremely sweet, caring and kind. Perhaps it was the effect of too much alcohol, or maybe it was his permanent attitude now, and since I hadn't seen him for a few months (due to a BIG holiday and work) I hadn't met the new him.

The waiter from before handed Fang and Chris both the requested glasses of red wine.

"Thankyou," said Fang absently, looking miles away. Chris just grunted. Fearing Chris would go overboard with the drinks, I snatched Chris' wine glass and put it on a tray lying on a table, but not before he managed to down half of it in one quick gulp. I towed him towards the centre of the floor. He stumbled around a bit, treading on my feet for a change. At the end of the song, he staggered over to where Fang sat by himself.

"Hello rich boy. Do you still want to dance with my Maxie?" Chris slurred. Fang searched my face, all earlier emotions erased, then at Christopher's. He stayed silent, wondering what Chris was getting at.

"Well, tell you what. I'll drink you for her. Whoever can down the most wine without going tipsy wins." This was NOT going to end well. "May the best man win- me."

"Come on, Fang. Let's get Ella and go home." I pleaded, very aware of the glare I was getting from my boyfriend. Fang smiled at Christopher, not exactly genuine, and ignored me. Uh! This was a most un-Fang like thing to do; drink til drunk.

"Guys, please! This is a ballroom dance, for Christ's sake! NOT a pub."

"Don't worry, Maxie." I was going to punch Chris if he didn't stop using that name he knew I hated.

"We'll be quiet, Max." Fang promised.

I put my head in my hands. Oh, Jeez. This was so going to come back and bite me in the butt later. (**I just love that expression!) **

…

5 glasses of wine each later, Ella and I helped out a drunken Fang and Christopher into the cool, crisp midnight air. I must note that they both aren't very good drinkers and neither could've drunk to save my life. Ella hailed the first cab and I payed the fare to Christopher's house for him. "Will you dance with me, Maxie?" Chris asked, barely coherent. "I did win, didn't I?"

I gently patted his head. "You and Fang both lost. Besides, I don't think you could dance in this state. Goodnight." Christopher frowned but he was so gone it almost looked cute. I nodded to the driver and closed the door. We watched until the cab's lights disappeared into the dark night.

"Let's get you home." I said to Fang. Ella helped me secure another taxi. We shared Fang's weight and got him into the back seat. Ella slid in next to him and spoke in a low, soothing tone. I hopped in the front and the driver asked for the address. I noticed the way he looked me up and down, eyes raking my body. It was sort of creepy.

"Uh, the Nicols' mansion. 75 Wil-"

"Yeah, yeah, Missy. I know the place." The driver interrupted. Well, excuse me!

"And pronto." I added, partly because Fang looked like he was about to be sick and partly because, well, I really wanted to get as far away from the driver and his taxi as possible.

The driver 'Rico' attempted small talk. "You're a all dressed up pretty there, lass. Been out dancing?"

"Yep." How's that for conversation?

"I haven't seen you around. Why are you with them Nicols kids then, hey?" he tried again, getting on my nerves.

"I work for them." I responded, using every ounce of pure Maximumness to control the urge to insult and threaten him.

Relief flooded through me at the sight of the familiar black looming gate of my new home. I slapped down a $20 note into he driver's hand. "Keep the change." I helped Ella out first, then we both helped Fang stumble along to his bedroom.

"Ella, go sleep. I'll deal with this." I instructed. Ella obliged, throwing me a curious glance, which then fell to her brother. I knew I couldn't get him up the stairs so I sat him on a chair in the kitchen.

I filled a glass with water and placed it in front of Fang. He sloshed some of it down his shirt but drank most of it. I refilled the glass and watched as he swallowed it just as fast. Trust me, I knew what dehydration felt like, though I couldn't say why Fang was low on fluids, having just drunk all that wine. He must have been real parched. I heard cautious tiptoes coming my way. I looked up to fins Angel all dressed up trying to sneak past me. I took in all the make-up, curled hair, fancy purse and sparkly high heels suspiciously.

"You look beauuutiful." Fang slurred. Angel blushed.

"Where have you been, young lady?" I demanded.

Angel looked at me, then at the cup in Fang's hand, then at Fang. She put on a horrified expression. "Oh My God! What did you do to him? You drugged him!" Angel yelled. I rolled my eyes.

"Cut the dramatics, Ange. He's drunk and that's WATER." Suddenly, I realised what she'd been trying to do. "Angel! Don't you dare change the subject." I growled. She ducked her head sheepishly. I tapped my foot impatiently and it ran all around the room.

Angel heaved a big sigh. "I went out to a party." I raised my eyebrows. Clearly, she didn't just go. "Fine! I snuck out to a party. All my friends were there too. Except, Ella. Duh. The host was the second most adorable guy on the planet! He's really popular at school and we even danced! Anyway, I went and now I'm back." She explained.

"Angel, if you want to go out to parties, let Mrs. Todds know first. Or me. Besides, then you can turn up in a limo!" I added, trying to make it appealing. Angel nodded. Was I the best sister or what? Course, I wouldn't let her off but for now, it was cool.

"Deal." Angel waved at Fang- um, excuse me?- and walked back to her room.

I pulled Fang up and dragged him into my favourite lounge room. Favourite because of the antique fireplace and all the soft, colourful cushions. I spread out all the cushions on the floor and dropped Fang onto them, none too gently. Oops! He shifted into a comfortable spot and lay there with his arms behind his head, starting at the ceiling. "Um, Fang?"

"Mmm…Hmm?"

"Aren't you cold?" I went to grab his blankets off his bed. The Fang smell of his doona engulfed me. God, it smelt so strongly of him. I didn't even know Fang had a smell. But the scary part was, it smelt kinda…good. Nice, intoxicating, Fangish, etc.

I tossed the thick cover onto Fang and went to my own bedroom to catch some shut-eye. AKA: sleep.

"I have this awful hangover. Max, what exactly happened last night?" Fang asked me in the morning.

"Uh, you like, got drunk?"

"Are you asking a question or stating a statement."

"Uh, stating a statement?" I replied, phrasing it like a question and making the end of the sentence a tone higher, just to tick him off. Fang growled playfully then groaned. He kneaded his temples in what looked like pain. He stalked out of the room to lie down or something. Nudge came in. Her usual serenity was broken and her face was a mix between concern, outrage and suspicion.

"Max?" She wanted to know. "What happened with Fang? I've only ever seen him like that a few times, long ago and that was when- wait, did he get drunk? I knew I should've come last night. You know, I should tell Father about this but I won't. This is your first chance. And, yeah, Max, I know it isn't your job to look after Fang but next time, stop him, okay? This is your only warning. Look, I…" I learned to drown out her ranting, just like I had with Ella and Angel.

**Soo.. It's just a bit of rando fluff. I'm sorry to all you guys who wanted Max's guy to hanf around for awhile, I'm lilling him off soon so my real problem can make it's entrance!**

**Look, my 'rents are really mad for me being on the computer so I got to go NOW.**

**I have to do lots of reviews next week. Get ready to...hmm, insert word of choice. Next chappie had Fax and after that... (can't tell you but I love it!)**

**I shoould probably go. Terminated.**

**Peace out,**

**SallSall**

**P.S. EmberFilledMist, that was the first Nudge rant of many! LOL**


	11. Chapter 11

****All rights and claims for The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names, ideas and characters belong to James Patterson. You may only reproduce, copy, use SallSall's work, writing, quotations or ideas with personal permission from SallSall. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.****

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Heyy! I finally typed this chapter up. The 'rents are up my back on homework and piano- my exam's next month. Grade six.**

**Then yesterday, we went to a little adorable cuty pie's first birthday. Anyways, here's the chapter and lots of people want more Fax, this is all building up to the ultimate Fax and then my main problem comes in straight away. So... this may bore you, although I think it get's some stuff sorted out.**

**Disclaimer: honestly, if I have to explain I'm not JP, I will add you to my list of people to hunt down (in first place, JP, second, Ally Carter(Gallgher Girls) and thrid, insert name here.)**

**On with the reading:**

I woke up with a pounding in my ears. Was it the same hang over from yesterday? My head throbbed, but, come to think of it, my whole body did. The bed was vibrating. I cautiously swung a leg onto the ground and could feel a steady beat through the floor. This was definitely not from too much alcohol.

I grabbed the top shirt in my closet-which happened to be a black T-shirt with a random brand scrawled all over it. A product somebody had obviously sent to me- and pulled it over my head. I kept my tracksuit pants on and followed my protesting ears to the source of all the sound.

It seemed to be coming from next door. My room was still fairly dark, so when I slowly inched open the door the concert room, I was blinded by the brightness and the flickering stage lights. "Uh!" It felt like my head had exploded and I hadn't even taken a step into the room yet. I could hear someone's angry voice screaming out a song.

I silently peeped my head in and saw Max playing my favourite electric guitar. Well, my favourite of the ones we owned. I'd had my eye on a new model twelve string for a while. Max was singing along to the notes.

' …_That you wrote with the stupid little note,_

_Something wasn't quite right about it._

_It smelt like cheap perfume,_

_And it didn't smell like you._

_There is no way you can get around it,_

_Because you wrote:_

_I wish you were her,_

_You left out the 'E'._

_You left without me,_

_And now you're somewhere out there_

_With a…'_

Max's yelling was drowned out by the other entrance to the room creaking open. So she'd woken up someone else. Looking curious, angry and upset, Ella walked in. She grinned when she saw Max up on the stage. I was amazed no one else had come in to complain. She shut the door firmly and jumped up next to Max. They both danced around wildly, belting out the song I now recognised to be Ella's favourite song (Everything back but you by Avril Lavigne) before Father had banned it on account of all the inappropriate words.

" _I hate you, why are guys so lame?_

_Everything I gave you I want everything back but you._

_I wish you were her,_

_You left out the 'E'._

_You left without me._

_Everything back but you._

_I wish you were her,_

_You left out the 'E'._

_You left without me._

_Everything back but you.'"_

Max and Ella ended the song with a few dance moves they'd never perform in public. Max took off the strap to my guitar and laid the guitar down out of the way.

"Ella, what happened with Jesse?" Max asked kindly, sitting on the edge of the stage and dangling her legs.

Ella's face scrunched up. "Jesse? He…uh…the other night, at the dance. After we left, um, he decided if I chose Fang over him then I wasn't good enough for him. He danced with one of my… best friends. And now they're together and he broke up with me!" she choked out. I was tempted to show myself and go comfort Ella but stopped myself just in time. Ella put on a dazzling smile, hopped up and fiddled with the sound effects.

She gestured at Max and whispered something in her ear. Max nodded and stood up, poising her hand as if she was holding a microphone.

" '_All the single ladies, all the single ladies  
All the single ladies, all the single ladies  
All the single ladies, all the single ladies  
All the single ladies  
Now put your hands up." _

Ella and Max both put their hands above their heads and swayed their arms. At this point, I just had to interrupt them. I pushed open the door fully and stepped out of the shadows.

"Nice singing, single ladies." I watched Max's cheeks flame and Ella narrow her eyes. "Ells, you have school tomorrow. Bed. Now." Max looked sheepish and Ella sulkily stalked back to what I hoped was her room. I turned all the equipment off and Walked Max back to her room.

"So you're single now?" I asked, since it was still on my mind.

Max smiled a sad little smile and nodded. "Yup. Chris didn't take the other night that well. In fact, he had a 'sleepover' with this girl who's had her eye on him for a while- years, actually. So we broke up. He used to be so nice, but…" Max trailed off. "Anyway, he broke up with me on the phone. ON THE PHONE!" Max sounded outraged. "Jerk." She muttered under her breath. We had gotten to her door.

"If you need me…" I offered.

"Thanks, Fang." Then the door was slammed in my face. "Sorry!" I heard through the wood. "Come back later. I'm in a bad mood right now."

In the morning, a grumpy Max shuffled onto a seat. "I hate-"

"-Mornings. Yeah, we know." finished Iggy.

Abruptly, Max broke down sobbing. For a moment Iggy and I just stared at her. Iggy took a long look at his sister and scurried out the door.

"Where are you going?" I demanded.

"Uh, somewhere. I mean, Angel. Gotta get Angel," he muttered in response. Max fell off the chair and moaned. She thrashed around in agony.

"Err…Max?" I approached her warily and wiped away some dripping tears from her cheek with my thumb. Her water works reduced to small hiccups and sniffles. I rubbed her shoulder soothingly. "It's okay. Shh."

Enter Angel. Her hair was a tangle of yellow curls. She had a very skimpy pink nightdress on. Her cheeks went rosy when her eyes fell on me. "H-hi!" She rushed to Max's side. "What, uh, happened?" Angel asked.

"She and, uh, what's-his-name broke up." Ella supplied, coming in. Angel's expression turned sympathetic.

"Max, he was obviously a loser if he broke up with you." I agreed there; how could anyone not be in love with Miss. Maximum Ride? "And if he got upset over one dance with another guy, he's not worth it."

Max wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve and gave a bright smile. "I feel better already." She stood up and brushed away the imaginary dust. With a wink, she passed me and as she walked away, she added, "Ella, Angel and Iggy, get ready for school. And Igs, wake up Gazzy. See you later, Fang."

We all looked at each other. Well, Max was a 'bounce back' type of girl obviously.

"Angel! Look what Max got us!" Ella exclaimed as she entered the lounge room. Nudge looked up from her books and stopped humming to roll her eyes. Angel shut the textbook she was studying and walked over to Ella, who clutched a bundle of fashion magazines. Angel squealed. Max came in and dropped her bag with a plonk. Iggy and Gazzy, who were doing homework with help from Mrs. Todds, studied Max's bag.

"Where are our presents?" Iggy wondered.

Max looked fake sympathetic. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

Gazzy glared suspiciously at his elder sister. Max grinned and tossed a medium sized package at them. It was marked 'Fragile' but Max didn't seem to care or notice. She produced a box of chocolates for Mrs. Todds and some glittery earrings for Nudge.

"Wow! Max, I really don't know what I did to deserve these, but they are beeeeau-tiful! I mean, wouldn't they just go great with-" everyone gave Nudge a look. She sheepishly cut herself short. "Okay, okay! I'm back to reading. But, I mean, I do think the purple rhinestone skirt…" We all ignored her and I stared curiously at Max, who announced it was 'Presents Day' with a twinkle in her eyes.

I was about to open my mouth when Gazzy engulfed Max and he and Iggy did a little happy dance. I saw that in front of them was a science kit or something. F-i-r-e… Oh, fireworks. Mrs. Todds looked sternly at them. "Later, boys. Now you must finish your homework."

"Follow me Fang." I trailed behind Max. Her ponytail swung from side to side in a hypnotic way. I realised where we were going. I pushed open the door the Concert Hall hurriedly. Plugged into an amp was the guitar I'd seen at the shop. I just stared at it… And stared… And stared. And after I'd done a lot of staring, I said one word that surprised even myself.

"Yo!"

Max raised her slender eyebrows. "Did I hear you just say 'yo'?" I nodded, embarrassed, but my attention was solely on the instrument that was now mine. Two gold and red stripes ran across the strap. It was a twelve string. The body was mostly white, with a few random dark blue stars. It was glossy and looked so perfect sitting there.

"Why do you have this room, anyway?" Max asked, breaking into my thoughts.

"Oh, we have…parties." She looked dubious. "Usually when Father is away for a while."

"But why do YOU have this stuff?" she probed.

"Well, I used to be in band. We'd do gigs and stuff. I was different when I was younger. Always at parties, lots of girls…"

Max looked interestedly at me. "What happened?" she asked, quietly, taking a step closer.

I put on a tight smile and tried to divert her attention. "Thankyou for the guitar. I've wanted it a long time but I wasn't allowed to put that amount of money on a 'toy' as Father put it. Shame. How did you know which one to get?"

Max studied her toes and shrugged. "I overheard you talking to your dad about it. Decided to use some of my payment money."

Huh. Well, Father and I hadn't exactly kept quite over the matter. It was nice to know Max paid attention to little things like that.

I out my arms slowly around her and smothered her in a big- only friendly- hug. She awkwardly hugged me back, relaxing into the embrace. "S'ok. Why don't you try it out?" Max suggested into my shoulder. I eagerly jumped onto the stage, picked up the shiny guitar and ran my hand over it. The tuning needed a little tweak but pretty soon I started plucking a short song. The thrumming of the notes was magical.

"Should've kept it myself." I heard Max say as she took a seat in the drum kit. I stopped strumming and watched as Max absently tested out a beat, drum sticks whirling. I was a little surprised at the intensity of her gaze, as she concentrated on something known only to her. I made up a little tune to go with the rhythm and we both began humming along. We finished to a round of applause. Startled, I looked up. Almost everyone who lived or worked here had filed into the room.

Max grinned and swept into a curtsy/ bow. "Thankyou, Thankyou! Tips are welcomed. Give them to Fang, here." Winking at me, she hopped off the stage and disappeared in the throng of people.

**So... I can't wait for the next chapter! I'm not sure how many reviews I have now, but I'm hoping after this chapter it'll be 150. **

**My dad's going away to Menilla for three weeks and You Jung is going back to Korea soon, so I'll have less time to type this week.**

**Anyways, I didn't do reviews last time and I'm sorry. Anyways, thank you to, reereeloves.D.C( you seem to have many screen names), MaxRideLover123, lily (you were the 100th reviewer), Iwashere, CrazyNerdyFangirl, Ally, fangandmaxlover24, EmberFilledMist, MOR21, Gigglerocksdoi, Amygirl and MAxRideFreak for reveiwing regurlarly and making my day. **

**Of course, you -yea, I'm talkin' to YOU- rock for 1) reading this and 2) if you go on to review you rock majorly! Please continue to rock majorly.**

**Fingers are killing. Terminated.**

**Peace out,**

**SallSall.**

**P.S. Woot! I lurve the movie Storm breaker. And how good were the finales to Glee, Merlin and Doctor Who? ANd how good is the song 'California Gurls' and 'Gives You Hell'? Wuv 'em.**

**P.P.S. I need ideas coz I've almost caught up to where I am in my notebook.**


	12. Chapter 12

****All rights and claims for The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names, ideas and characters belong to James Patterson. You may only reproduce, copy, use SallSall's work, writing, quotations or ideas with personal permission from SallSall. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.****

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Hey! **

**Woot, we reached our goal! 150 reviews+. New gaol: uh, let's say 160, Okay. Pretty easy, right?**

**K, this is my second fav. chapter and I hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: Who cares? What if I am JP? What is wrong with that? (but sadly, I'm not.)**

"I feel so…energetic." I groaned, trying to put a word on the way I felt. "I also feel really lazy." I added. It was Sunday morning and my body was itching to go running, or kick a ball, or just… exercise. Fang was eyeing me from where he sat perched on the arm of a couch. I could hear Ella and Angel poring over the magazines I'd gotten them two days ago. Iggy and Gazzy were probably blowing up the science lab again- my parents had had to pay for and incident yesterday. Maybe it wasn't the most ingenious thing to get them; how to make fireworks and other explosives.

Nudge came in, looking relaxed. She'd really warmed to me. She had a fluoro pink bikini on. Bikini- the word made me shudder. Her dark skin glowed golden. Little drops of water clung to her hair. "Hey Max! Outside is so sunny; it's perfect for sun bathing. Go put your bathers on. I mean, if you don't want to tan you can always swim. We have an amazing crystal clear pool. If you want it to be warm like a spa, we can do that. There' also a portable diving board that goes up to-mph!" Fang had put his hand on her mouth.

"Ooo coush frig laphs. Uh! Fung shtop it!" Nudge tried to talk through Fang's hand. I got up. Exactly what I needed- some time outside.

"I'll be there soon." I told Nudge, who tried again, unsuccessfully, to speak through Fang's hand. When Fang took away his hand, Nudge opened her mouth. "Fang, you should come too. Invite the littlies."

I passed the girls on the way to get changed. "Swimming outside if you want." Angel and Ella immediately went off to 'co-ordinate' outfits.

As soon as the door was closed, I started rummaging through my wardrobe. T-shirt, shirts, nope. Skirt, boots, nope. I kept out a red sarong with little white flowers, my 'Max' beach towel (It had a big MAX across it and a picture of me. Mum made it for me last year) and my pair of odd blue and aqua thongs out. To my dismay, I couldn't find my one-piece. Instead, I pulled out a VERY skimpy and revealing bikini that I was certain was not there before. It was bright green with purple stripes and pink and black hearts.

Angrily, I stalked out to find my sister. - The one named Angel. Pft: Angel. More like 'demon.' On the way, I passed Fang, who smirked at my expression. "Angel!" I yelled. "Angel, get your skinny behind here RIGHT NOW." I was lucky Mr. Nicols was at a conference. Angel appeared in front of me, smiling innocently. If anyone could pull of looking cute in a moment like this, it was Angel.

"Yes, Max?"

"Where are the swimmers I packed?" I demanded, emphasising the 'I'.

I could feel Fang's curious gaze on us.

Angel's smile wavered and she looked guilty. "I, um, threw it out. But I got you a new suit!" she quickly added.

"You. Threw. It. Out?" I growled.

Angel shifted uneasily. "Uh, yeah. Don't' be mad,-" Isn't ti funny when you hear a sentence like that you brace yourself for the worst. "-I bought you some new clothes and chucked some old ones." Ella stood at the doorway, watching us, as well as my brothers and Fang.

"Like what?"

"Your ragged green top, the leather bike jacket, uh…" I swear I saw red. My fists were balled up.

"Next time, ASK." I said through gritted teeth, working hard to control the monster within. I retreated to my room, patting myself on the back mentally for no violence, which would probably have scared the heck out of Fang and Ella.

I put on the flipping bikini, too embarrassed to check my reflection. I wrapped the sarong around my waist, slung my towel over my shoulder, slipped into my un-matching thongs and grabbed my sunnies. Feeling majorly self-conscious, I stepped outside into the glorious sunshine. The water was crystal clear, as promised, like the first time I had been out here.

Angel shoved her glasses up onto her head. She had out her towel on the grass. Her stomach was exposed and the sun glinted off her belly button. Hang on- was her bellybutton blue? "Angel? Did you get a piercing I didn't know about?"

Angel rolled her eyes, true diva style. "I a fake. Re-lax. BTW, you look totally hot in that. It shows curves I've never seen before. Ooh! Here comes you're boyfriend, Fangy." I shot her a 'get real' glance that was sprinkled with mortification. "Mmm hmm…definitely checking you out." I bet I turned crimson. "Don't worry, I not crazy about him anymore. I can see how much you guys like each other. Though he's still super cute and…" She stopped talking.

A deep, masculine voice coughed behind me. I turned around. He looked me up and down. From my loose hair to the tips of my toes, which were painted dark red with little white flowers-They looked pretty damn cute, if you ask me.

"I never knew you had a tattoo, Max," he teased with a little wonder in his voice.

Huh? Oh, yeah, THAT one. He must have been referring to the one on my lower back. Fang's lips stretched into his special smile, which brightened my world, then he turned away and headed to the pool. I watched him, noticing the way his profound muscles moved as he walked. (His shirt didn't seem to be in sight.)

I felt the uncomfortable heat from the sun and discovered accumulating beads of sweat on my neck. Damn, I must have been staring! "You have it bad for my brother." Ella remarked. Funny, I was almost thinking the same thing.

I made a decision to swim first and sunbake later. I slipped off my sarong and put it with my towel and sunglasses in a heap next to Ella and Angel. I started hyperventilating. I felt so…vulnerable and, um, naked. Before I could wimp out, I stood up and skipped across the grass, enjoying the sensation of the individual strands of grass mushing between my toes. I felt better…sort of.

"Hey, Max!" Nudge called as I passed her. She was sprawled across a deck chair. She peered at me from over her book. "I like your tattoo! Why is it wings though?"

I shrugged. "Impulse, I guess." Nudge nodded and waved at me vaguely, already stuck into her reading once more.

Fang had swum a few lengths by the time I was standing on the 2metre diving board. They had higher ones, I was told, but no one really used them. I was going to try them later. "Ride." Fang called from below. He was challenging me. Fine. I took a running start, bounced once and did a front tuck dive into the water. It cooled me instantly, yet it was still warm. I floated happily for a minute when I noticed a looming shadow behind me.

Fang picked me up and slung me over his shoulder like I was a feather, despite my many protests. I banged my fists on his back, giggling. He laughed at my weak attempts. "Fang Nicols, you put me down RIGHT NOW!" He ignored me. Fang waded into the shallow end and finally put my down. I had stopped struggling. He had a smug look on his face and was laughing AT me. I punched him on the shoulder and hoisted myself up out of the pool.

"Now where's that higher diving board?"

Between us, we managed to set up the platforms. Snagging Angel's hat and my sunnies, I climbed up the ladder to 10metres. Instead of diving off it, I found a comfortable position to lie in and closed my eyes. Ahh….

"Ma-ax!" A distant voice called to me, shattering my dream. The temperature had dropped considerably and a warm breath blew on my cheek.

"What?" I snarled, my first shooting out. I sat up so I could stare them- or glare them- down. (Since my fist made no contact.) Fang was leaning over me.

The diving board suddenly got really wobbly. "Oh, God." Fang was purposefully shaking it. I mimed kicking him where the sun don't shine and told him to get his butt down there. Without looking, I knew he was giving me a what-ever-you-say-scary-girl look. As soon as the tremors stopped, I cautiously got down myself.

As my foot touched the ground, I felt strong arms go around my waist. I twisted in Fang's arms and put both arms around his neck before my brain actually processed the action. I immediately blushed but left my hands there. It felt right…Almost instinct. The sun was just setting and it cast a pinkish glow. "Miss Ride, I believe we have something to finish from a while ago." Fang said, in a voice that made my tummy flutter.

"Um, you'll have to remind what-" but I didn't get to finish my sentence because then his lips were on mine. Soft, unbelievably soft and yet pressing intently against my mouth. One of hands was in my hair, stroking it gently. The other trailed light patterns over my back, sending shivers down my spine.

Some people say I think too much, or my brain works too hard. Now, the only thought running through my head was… 'finally'.

We broke apart, both breathing heavily. I bet I looked like a total moron- what with the big, goofy smile I could feel plastered to my face. Fang was smirking his trademark smirk and his eyes were radiating warmth. Yeah, warmth is a good word for it.

I laced my hand through his and went to get my towel. My sarong was gone and in its place a blue halter top and a purple skirt so mini it didn't look like it would cover anything. Fang laughed at my grimace. "Angel." I growled, drying myself off and putting the top on.

"You look beautiful, you know. As always." I blushed. I put the skirt on and I was right, it was REALLY short. It felt like I was wearing underwear. I wrapped my towel around me and Fang and I walked in together, hand in hand.

Nudge rushed towards us out of nowhere. "Um, Father had someone to see you, Fang. Hurry to his conference room."

Fan nodded and invited me to come with him. He waited patiently while I shot upstairs and got changed into my 'nanny' outfit.

A woman with straightened dyed blonde hair sat elegantly poised next to Mr. Nicols. She beckoned to Fang with a perfectly manicured fingernail. Her gaze passed dismissively over me, as if I weren't there. "Fang, darling!" Her voice echoed all around the room. It was one of the biggest areas in the mansion and that was saying something! Fang stood slightly in front of me and the space where Mr. Nicols, this new lady and a nervous looking Ella sat was at least 15metres.

I studied the woman. Her eyes were ice blue and she radiated confidence. Her skin was tanned, like Nudge and Fang's sort of, and her eyelashes were coated with mascara. Red lipstick covered her lips, which revealed straight, gleaming white teeth. Perfect much? She had a skirt and shirt on with heeled boots and a brown fur coat was slung around her shoulder- Animal cruelty. "Come here, darling. Now." Fang hesitantly took a few strides before looking back at me. Who was this lady, who had Mr. Nicols hanging on to her every word? Fang and Ella were seldom this edgy and cautious around anyone. Nudge rushed in, earning an eye from the stranger. "Nudge! Ladies do not run. It is ever so un elegant." She scolded. Fang used the distraction to step closer to me.

I asked through gritted teeth, "Who the beep is that?" Even though in my heart, I'd already pieced together the answer.

"Max, that beep is my mother." Yup, spot on.

**So...? Please review! More ideas. Soz I can't update this weekend cuz our internet is stuffed. It's suuuuuuuuuuper slow. But I know I'll B able to in two weeks time. Hopefully, I'll type up the cahpter and post it when the internet's happy again. I hate computers.**

**Rando fact: More people are killed by donkeys than die in aeroplane crashes. :) LOL. Stay away from donkeys!**

**Reviews: as I said, yay! Luv you all.**

**Chocoyum: haha. I like Glee.**

**SeaStar1196: I luuuuuurve DW too! Totally. But I preferred Davcid Tennant to this Matt guy. All though, I'll admit he's pretty darn cute.**

**Kiki1607: uh, ok. Whiplash. Sorry if I jump.**

**and last for this cahpter coz i have to go now: TREX IS Da BEST: you left the longest review for this chapter. Next time, some ideas would be good too! Cya.**

**Basically, everyone who reviewed said they luv the story. Thank the heavens peeps have stopped comparing my story to Forbidden by Flyon something or other. (not to be disrespectful) I have sources that say the last chapter was boring and sorry. But, I loved the twelve string guitar. Thanks everyone who made my day by giving a small piece of their time to review. I heart you! Anyways, heres to hoping for a lot of reviews and a lot of ideas and suggestions. remember if ur lazy: * or ~.**

**Peace out,**

**SallSall (who is still very much in luurve with Prince of Persia.) :p.**

**P.S. Who watched Master Chef finale? :( Poor Callum. Anyways, live life to the full.**


	13. Chapter 13

***All rights and claim The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names and characters belong to James Patterson. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.***

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Sup my homies? I know I usually bore you with long ANs but today, ima be nice to y'all.**

**Anywayz, my newly appointed beta, Zanera *waves* says hi! We've discussed this story long and hard and have finally worked out the perfect ending. Hahas! You all have to wait to find out what it is. :p**

**And, I'm soooooo happy about thw 175 reviews! How about 200 soon? Too much? **

**Here is the mucho awaited chappie...**

Mother stared impatiently at Max. "Oh! You must be the maid Bertha sent. Well, we should like tea please. Bertha knows just how I like it. Tell her 'Adriana's Tea'." She waited for Max to curtesy and leave. Instead, looking bewildered, Max looked behind her. Her eyebrows scrunched together.

"Is she talking to me?" she hissed.

"Mother, this is-" I started.

"What Fang is trying to say is… Well, a few months ago Father held a tryout thingo for a new nanny for Ella- uh, I mean Isobella- and let's just say there were HEAPS of people who tried for it. And Fang and I and Father had to sit through the most pathetic people…"

"Max, please go." I whispered while Nudge explained EVERYTHING. Max looked back stubbornly.

"Please." I tried again. Max studied my face, nodded curtly and left. After Nudge had finished her long and detailed (despite claiming to 'cut straight to the point') story of who Max was, and that her siblings were here for a while too.

Mother had a fake smile on her face. "Enough Nudge, dear. We have more important matters to discuss. Fang, do come over." She played with my floppy hair and smoothed out my shirt.

"Adriana Davidson!" Ari's voice rang out. "Terribly sorry, Sir. Excuse me." He bent down to whisper something in Father's ear. Ari straightened out, bowed, smiled and disappeared into the hall. Suddenly, a nice, flowing song begun emanating from Mother's area. She dipped an elegant hand into her purse and waved us out so she could take her call in private.

Max intercepted me as I made my way to the reading room.

"Why haven't I ever heard about your mum?" She crossed her arms over her chest, not bothering with a 'Hi Fang! How are you?' or a 'Good afternoon, Fang!'

"You never asked." I tried to shrug past but Max grabbed the back of my shirt.

"Why. Haven't. I. Heard. Of. Her?" she demanded again. I sighed. This was a touchy subject.

"She left Father when I was 11. Mother met another billionaire who already had two children and they're not married but live together. The last time she 'popped' in was five years ago, though I suspect Father has seen her since. She always wants something when she comes back. I'm not sure what it is yet."

Max listened quietly. Instead of looking sympathetic and apologise that any other person would've, she hugged me. Let us get this one simple fact straight: Fang+ Hug= No. Never.

But, this was Max and she already knew that one fact about me. I tentatively put an arm around her slim frame. It felt comfortable and nice.

"Have you got plans for next weekend?" I murmured into Max's soft hair.

"Not yet." She broke away quickly from our embrace. "Um, I have to, uh, go and organise Ella and her school stuff! Bye!"

It took me a short moment to realise it was Sunday and Ella's 'school stuff' was already finished. Sunday was Ella's relaxing day.

Rejection or confusion?

Mother wrinkled her nose. "Why did you pick _her_?" Shr glanced disdainfully at Max's tattoo. I had to admit, the tattoo did scream 'badass chick' a little. It looked cool, though. The artist had obviously been skilled and the wings almost seemed to be real enough to touch. Not that I would- touch Max's tattoo, because that would seem strange.

We took our places at the dinner table. Max poked at her food and tried to pretend she couldn't hear the disapproving conversation about her.

"…But her attire! And what about …" Max had chosen to wear little spiky ball earrings and her hair was tied back in a loose braid with green string woven in. She'd managed to fins a bright yellow T-shirt that was just high enough to show her 'body art'. Max's legs were covered in tight denim jeans, which both Ella and Angel had begged her to wear. She had painted her fingernails rainbow and wore black converses with fluoro green laces. A leather jacket rested on her shoulders.

"So… Maximum darling. I've heard a lot about you. Tell my more about yourself." Mother attempted to be polite but Max wasn't buying it.

"One, it's Max. -"

"But I was told your name is, Maximum, Maximum."

"Max, just Max. Two, I'm not anybody's 'darling' especially yours-"

"Oh, but every one is my darling, Maximum darling."

"Max. Full stop. Three, that's funny, because I haven't heard ANYTHING about- OW!" Max glared at me. I would be glaring at me, too, if I were her, considering I had just kicked her under the table.

Crème Brule was placed in front of us and our mains were taken away.

"Ohh! Doesn't everyone just LOVE dessert? I mean, the chefs are quite talented with that torch. See, my Crème Brule is just a little crispy, perfect in fact. I think…" Nudge tried to defuse the situation with her nervous chatter.

"So, Adrian. What brings you here?" Ella asked coolly. Nudge gasped quietly. Ella always referred to Mother as 'Adrian' blaming her for never having a mother to brush her hair and whatever girls want their mothers to do. Mother gave Ella a steely look.

"Well, Isobella. Partly, because I heard of the mess you're making of yourself. Mostly, though, because I wanted to invite Richard's children over so you can meet them." Father looked pained. "It would have been better if you could come to my new home but I see there would be a lot of moving." She glanced at Max's siblings, who were unusually quite. Especially Angel. "Coraline and Nathaniel. Or Cora and Nate as they go by, will arrive tomorrow."

We finished dinner in silence, anger rolling off Max like a tidal wave. Mother sat smugly by Father whispering things in his ear and giggling occasionally. How could she do that when she had another man pining away for her some place else? I watched Father swallow his third glass of wine. "You are all welcome to leave." No, 'dinner is done' or 'you are dismissed'. How un-Father like.

Max fumed all the way to her room. She slammed open the door and took a shaky deep breath. She grabbed a pillow from her bed and pressed it to her face.

"Shut the door." Max's request- no, ORDER- was muffled by the fluff. I swung the door shut just as Max buried her face even deeper into the fabric and screamed. Really loudly, too.

"Should I go?" I asked, making towards the door.

"No! I'm all good now." Max smiled. "Well, isn't your mother just a darling." No surprise her voice was full of sarcasm.

"You two turned dinner into a cat fight." I noted and Max smiled her special smile. She stepped closer and I naturally stepped back. My back hit the wooden door.

"You know, you've improved from that egotistical jerk when I first met you to quite a charmer. And I think I might be falling for you, Fangy." Max inched closer, moving excruciatingly slowly. She shot me another dazzling smile, which did a funny thing to my heart. Not able to resist, I leaned in and kissed Max on the lips. Her arms came around my neck and mine snaked around her waist, pulling her closer.

Max slowly ended our kiss looking self-satisfied. She grinned slyly at me then moved and flopped onto her bed.

"Mmm…" Max yawned, stretching her arms and exposing the small of her back and her tattoo. "I'm really tired. I think I'll get changed and go to sleep now." She tugged of her shoes and stared at me pointedly. Not getting the message, I stared at her.

Max groaned. "Guys! So clueless!" I pretended to be offended.

"Well maybe if you used the universal language, instead of little 'eh ma gawd' random little phrases and actions, we'd actually understand you!"

"F-I-N-E. I'll spell it out for you. I'm getting changed and shoes come off… That equals clothes coming off next! And by the way, I do not say 'eh ma gawd'. Ever."

I felt my cheeks heat up. Score one to her. Darn. To spite her, I didn't leave; I simply turned my head and averted my gaze.

I heard ruffling and shuffling and tried not to peek. - I didn't. "Done." I heard light steps and wasn't surprised when Max's soft voice whispered in my ear. "You know what's coming up?"

"What?" I asked, dumbly, entranced by the tickling in my ear.

"My birthday! Then Iggy's, then Gazzy's." Max laughed.

Ah, yes. I remembered. Max had reminded me that her birthday was coming up.

"You know what else is coming up?" Max asked again. I didn't answer, still thinking about how her speaking was tickling my ear.

"You birthday! God, we're all freakishly close!" Wow. I had actually forgotten my 'reminder of how old you are' as Nudge liked to put it.

And furthermore, someone else had reminded me- namely Max. Max's pressure on my shoulders eased I felt her remove her arms from around my neck.

I sat down on the edge of Max's bed and watched as she climbed into it. She must've been cold because 1) she was shivering and 2) her singlet and small cotton shorts probably weren't keeping her body warm.

Max slipped smoothly under the covers. I leaned down and kissed her forehead, got up and went to the door. Max's bedside lamp was still glowing- just- on the lowest, dimmest setting possible. I could just make out the fluttering of her eyelashes against her cheeks.

I stayed at the door studying Max until her body rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern. My Mother must have worn her out. She looked peaceful, and, with one final glimpse, I rushed through the corridors to my own warm bed.

**So.. Ima excited to know what you think. I love writing Max and Adrian's fights- they're so fun :)**

**Reviews: **

**Ok, I tried to reply to a lot of reviews when I had time. So, if i didn't reply and you would like one, please leave a message on your review and I will personally type to you. Who knows, if you ask a question, sometimes I give a little inside goss. hint, hint! So review, please, ma peoples!**

**These two reviews weren't signed in, so I reply to you here.**

**wowowow: Yes, wowowow pointed out a really important thing. I am, indeed, Aussie (WOO!) so, yes, we do have a lot of slang words that we take for granted. Eg. Thongs. As wowowow pointed out, I meant sandal thongs not the other type *shudders*. Thankyou, wowowow. So, don't be afraid to clarify any Aussie slang with me.**

**Seastar1196: DW rox. Also, unfortunately, I can't take credit for the 'that beep is my mum'. It's from the Vamp Diaries. A guy goes. "Who the hell are you?"And the other responds. "I am the hell Sinichi, but most people call me Sinichi." !**

**and lastly, Reignbeau: I notice your name popping up a bit in my email. Thankyou for reviewing!**

**Peace out, ma home dawgs.**

**SallSall :)**


	14. Chapter 14

***All rights and claim The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names and characters belong to James Patterson. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.***

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

Hi Everyone! SallSall is back! Sorry for the little holiday I had there. ;)

**Anyway, here is chapter 14. It pretty short, sorry about that, but the next few chapters and still being written.**

**So, if I don't update next week, it's because I'm still handwriting the chapter in my drafts book. Anyway, I'm just so happy to be back. My birthday was last week aswell, so I didn't get onto the computer.**

**Here you go...!**

"Okay, children. Nate and Cora will be arriving soon. Best behaviour. Be polite to them. Nate is a year older than you, Fang and Cora is around 19." Adriana gave us instructions on how to act, eyeing me the whole time.

"Cate and Nora sound great, Mrs. N." I remarked. Adriana's lips tightened.

"Their names are _Nate _and _Cora_, Maximum darling." She hissed, emphasising the 'Maximum' and the 'darling'. "And since Cora is younger than you, I expect you to be a good role model."

I almost scoffed. This was not what Angel forced me into putting up with. –Being a 'good' role model. But I didn't make any sound, because this would give that female dog of a woman fuel to pick on me with. I put my thumbs in my jeans belt loops and rocked back and forth on my heels. Can I say awkward turtle much?

"Oh look! There are the girls, Nora and Cate!" I sniggered, pointing at the long (long putting it mildly) hummer stretch pulling up. Fang snorted. A tinted window wound down to show a girl with fake tanned skin, long, layered brown with blonde streaks coloured hair, piled up into a fancy bun with lots of long bits hanging down.

She had black and white rimmed Ray Bans on top of her head. Her blue eyes were wide and un-naturally circular. She had a small nose and pouty pink lips, which were coated with gloss. She was chewing some gum, which showed her perfectly white and straightened teeth.

"Adriana, darling!" she shouted out with a slightly British-or was it American? - accent waving a petite hand. I could see a blonde head next to her who I guessed was Nate- or 'Cate' as I decided to call him.

"Hello, Cora dear." The footmen opened the backseat doors first. Cora, or 'Nora' stepped out.

She looked way more mature than her actual age. She had a tight black skivvy and a short hot pink skirt with black fishnet stockings that ruined her total 'good girl' image. Nora shrugged on a light brown button coat that fell to her knees.

"You must be the gorgeous Fang." Nora purred flirtatiously. She started fluttering her eyelashes furiously. What a suck up.

"Something in your eye?" I wondered. Nora (Cora) looked at me and cocked her hip. I stared straight back. Bring it on. Finally, she looked away and scowled. Fang put his arm around me, trying not to grin but his eyes told me everything.

"'Tis a pleasure to meet you, Fang and nanny girl." My eyes narrowed and Nora turned toward the car. "Nate! Do stop hiding and come out here."

Cate emerged looking annoyed and embarrassed. He was the complete opposite of Fang; blond, bright hair, sparkling blue eyes, white T-shirt and light brown shorts. His gaze wondered over everyone, lingering on me the most. Cate was pretty muscular, I'd give him that, but Fang's body was perfect. Nothing could match it.

Cate stuck out his hand. "Uh, it is indeed very nice to meet you." Definitely English accent. Angel and Ella both giggled. They both had unconsciously switched into flirt mode. Poor Cate.

"I'm Max." Cate kissed my hand true gentleman style. I blushed and I felt Fang's eyes boring into the side of my face. He frowned under the mop of his dark hair. A few peaceful silent moments later, Adriana rushed inside and everyone slowly cleared off.

I peered out of the corner of my eye and there was Nora getting all cuddly with MY guy! Okay, so maybe he wasn't mine yet, but I totally got fist dibs. "Back off." I snarled, my voice low. Everyone else was helping with the suitcases of things. There was lots- and apparently now they would be staying quite a while.

"Say it, don't spray it! You-" Nora said with book like attitude.

"Please be quiet, you're giving me an earache."

"I'm not talking!" Um, yeah, you are. "You shut up!"

"Make me." I responded. She wanted to go down that road? Fine by me. Coz soon she'd find her way blocked by a solid metal fence covered in barbed wire that stretched on forever.

"I don't make trash, I burn it. Beat that." Oh, I knew this one. It was sooo old. I stuck to the original comeback my friend (Cal) and I had made up in 4th grade.

"They why aren't you in the fire?" Fang grabbed my arm and dragged me over to bring in some bags. He looked annoyed and exasperated. "Oh, jeez." This massive pink suitcase was unloaded and left at my feet. Just looking at it made my body shudder and ache. Firstly, all that pink! Secondly, it was big. Humungous. Gigantic. It stood up to my waist lying on its side.

"What the Hell did you bring?" I shouted to Nora, who was busy filing her nails. She glanced up and smiled at my shoulder. Huh? I looked back and saw Fang loping towards me. Oh.

He looked at my negative stance and then the suitcase. Wordlessly, he gripped the handle and hauled it to the grand entrance where a doorman- no, THREE doormen- struggled to get it up the few steps. Oh yeah, my man had strength all right.

Fang walked back with a smug expression. I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue. "I had a problem with all the pink."

Fang snorted. "You wear pink, you have pink accessories. So…?"

"I do not own anything pink!" I protested. I didn't. "Ella owns every article of pink clothing I ever have or will wear."

Fang shrugged, dropping it. But it was clear he didn't believe me. So, yeah okay, I 'borrow' Ella's pink stuff occasionally. I admit it- to myself. After all, it is pretty challenging to lie to yourself.

I grabbed a black sports bag, thinking it would be light and slung the strap over my shoulder. My back hit the ground hard and I was winded for a few seconds. I remember hearing a sickening snapping sound. Then there was a popping sound as I tried to move and my shoulder burst into pain.

"AHHHH!" I screamed like the weeny I wasn't. I couldn't move my left arm at all. No fingers, elbow or shoulder movement.

"Freaking Hell!" I moaned, cradling my arm and slowly sitting up. "What do you people carry around?"

Cate, Fang and a few people I didn't recognise crowded around me. Cate looked worried and guilty. "Those are my weights. I'm so sorry, I didn't realise-"

One of the ladies cut him off. "Max, sweetheart. Can you feel this?" She jabbed my shoulder blade. Another round of pain exploded.

"Shhhhhitakefriedmushrooms!" The lady pulled away, apologising. She squeezed all up my arm and when she got to just past my elbow, I yelled again.

The other two people nodded, contemplating. "Okay. Here's what we think. You shoulder is dislocated very badly. In fact, it's the worst case I've ever seen. You've also broken a bone in your arm. The break is not so bad. We're going to take you into our medical wing."

Oh, so they were nurses. Or doctors? "We're going to have to pop your shoulder back into place. It will hurt. A lot. Do you need pills?" I shook my head.

"We have to do it now. We can't move you. And, no, you cannot walk; you'll jostle your arm." Grimacing, I nodded and lay down.

"Okay, Fang, hols her legs down. And you, boy, push down on her other shoulder. Mind you she'll thrash and struggle. Claire, Rick, talk to her. Keep her calm."

"Sure. Well, Max, Elaine is just going to-" The man tried to calm me down.

"Holy (insert swear word of choice here. A bad one.)!"

Rick winced. "Yes, you must be in a lot of pain. Okay, Elaine is going to massage it again. Instead of enlightening us with your extensive vocabulary, you should try to-"

"Guacamole!" I shouted randomly.

Claire stroked my hair. "Or you can just do that. Now the final push. You ready?"

"No- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I heard Elaine reassuring me and congratulating me. Numbly, I felt the ebbing pain in my arm subside after the initial shock.

Then the whole world turned black…

"Max." An angel. What a masculine, harmonious voice.

"Maximum." Another angel.

"Max, please wake up." No, sweet angel, don't cry. Oh... That's _Angel. _I blinked at the bright yellow lights above me. Oooh, I'd never seen this part of the mansion before.

"Hi." I croaked out, stretching my back. I was under heavy blankets. Cate stood in the doorway, chewing his lip.

"Hi, Max. I'm really sor-" I waved a dismissive hand and him.

"Welcome back, Max." A soft voice whispered in my ear. The male angel. I sat up. Two strong arms supported me. Head rush.

"Thanks."

Tha lady from last night approached me. "Hello, Max dear. What's your name."

"Uh, Max?" I answered, uncertainly.

"Full, name please." she pressed.

"But, you already-"

"Just answer it." she commanded.

"Okaaaay. Maximum Ride."

"Good, and your birthday?" What was this, pick on Max morning?

"Is this a trick question?" Judging from her expression: no. "Fine, it's in five days."

"And lastly, who is your mother?"

"Why are you asking me all these stupid questions?"

She sighed and Fang chuckled. "Max is fine. She's fine, alright."

**ATTENTION: Please read Unpredictable by Tandemgirlz in my favs list. You have to. I'm desperate. It's really me and a bud writing the story. Please, I beg you to read it!**

**So, how was it? I know you want to review so badly...Your fingers are itching and your brain is forming the words you will type.**

**For reviews: I couldn't reply to the many great reviews I got. We hit the 200 mark! *claps* And I'd like to thank everyone who contributed.**

**Ok, so there were lots of reviews.**

**seastar1196: uh, yeah. What did you have for breakfast? But, you supplie me with some interesting stuff there. :p**

**MaxRideFreak: Glad to hear it. I love writing Adriana/ Max and Cora/ Max fights.**

**Thanks everyone who reviewed and sorry if the Fax is lacking or too sudden. The 'rents are calling.**

**Peace out,**

**SallSall.**

**P.S. I have a tandem story with my pal, TREX DA BEST. I've favourited us to authors and please please please read our MR story! I will send you all giant cookies.**


	15. Chapter 15

***All rights and claim The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names and characters belong to James Patterson. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.***

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Hi! For all of you who read chapter 14 before the 10****th**** of September, go back and read the last bit. I changed and added a little paragraph. Otherwise, enjoy. BTW- i think I accidentally reposted chapter 16 instead of this one when I was editing earlier. So... Luckily, I was told it didn't seem like a plot jump. (whew)!**

"Can I go now? I've been here, like, my whole life." Max whined. I sighed; she had her annoyingly irritating voice on. Elaine looked at Max. Her arm was in a cast, her shoulder was bandaged and she had a blue sling around her neck, ready for use.

"Well, I suppose you could-" Claire started.

"Thanks guys!" Max jumped out of her hospital bed. She linked her good arm with mine and ignored the worried glances Rick, Elaine and Claire threw at her.

"Freedom!" Max sang, literally slipping out into the corridor, dragging me along. "Hey!" Max called out to Ella and Gazzy, who were walking awfully close side-by-side, talking about chemistry or something. Angel, with both Iggy and Mrs. Todds, came out of the lounge room. Max was suspiciously looking between Ella and her brother.

"Max! You're out. Thank goodness." Angel hugged Max, who winced as her arm was touched. "Sorry!" Angel exclaimed, a horrified look passing over her. Awkwardly, everyone joined in a massive bear hug, with Max in the centre, protesting loudly.

"Look what the cat dragged in.," sneered Cora, walking into us, Nate following.

"Um, actually, I was here first. So technically, you would be the 'what' the 'cat dragged in'. Cora flushed and pretended she didn't care.

I grabbed Max by the arm and hissed into her ear. "What is wrong with you? Don't pick fights."

"Oh, I'm not picking fights. I just join in when it sound or looks interesting." Max replied sweetly. She wriggled her arm out of my grip and strolled past Cora on the way into my room. When did I say she could go in there?

"Oh, N-Cora. What's that ugly, deformed thing on your neck? Oops, my bad. It's your head." Guess who said that?

"Cora, let go." I tried to pry Cora's fingers off my arm.

"Max isn't your girlfriend is she?" she asked.

"Max is my girl friend, Cora." I replied. Her grip slackened just a tiny bit and I pulled free.

Max had kicked off her green converses (again, I wonder how many pairs she owns of these) and was 'testing the bounciness of my mattress'. I looked at the clock. We would be expected for dinner soon.

"Max, put your shoes back on…" I trailed off. Max had hunched over into a tight little ball. "What's wrong?"

She started shivering. "It's just so cold in here. Is the heater broken?"

I glanced at my blank black T-shirt and navy shorts I wasn't cold at all. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yup. Just peachy, but seriously, what's with the temperature?"

I stared at Max; she wasn't joking. "Max," I began slowly. "I'm not at all cold. In fact, it's a little clammy in here."

Max's teeth started chattering and her eyes widened as she took in my clothing. "B-but, I'm s-s-so c-cold."

I tossed her one of my jumpers, which she pulled over her head, covering up her orange singlet. She kept on her blue tracksuit pants but took her bracelets, hair elastics and shoes and socks off. "What are you doing, Max?" I wondered.

Wordlessly, Max climbed under _my_ covers.

"T-that's b-better." Max sniffled. I sat down next to her and brushed a strand of hair off her face. Her cheeks were flushed and her forehead had an unnatural sheen. I tested the temperature of her skin compared to mine.

"Wow, Max. You are really hot."

Max smiled slyly. "Thankyou." Great to see she still had her wit. I rolled my eyes. How unlike me- Max must be influencing me.

…

So that was how I came to wake up on the leather couch, with a girl I may or may not like sleeping in my king sized bed, at 5:30 in the morning.

A chill was in the air and I groped around for the blanket that had been keeping me warm until now. When my hands found nothing, I realised it was bundled up on the floor. My shirt was lying in a crinkled heap next to it.

Quietly, I went to get changed and found I had a stiff neck and cramped legs. (the couch wasn't long enough) Trying not to groan aloud, I stretched out all my sore muscles.

That was when I heard the shuffling behind me. - And the creak of bed springs. "Good morning Max."

I heard a giggle. "Yeah, I agree, it's a pretty fine morning, sleepyhead. I've been watching you awhile." Man, that girl could be quiet when she wanted to. Unfortunately, that wasn't very often.

Max looked totally innocent and much younger, having just woken up. She patted the spot next to her, signalling for me to lie down next to her.

Shrugging, I pulled up the covers and lay down. Max, mumbling sleepily, snuggled up to me. I was just getting comfortable when I heard the loud, brisk click of my mother's shoes. I urgently sat up, shaking Max awake. Her eyes widened as the clicking got closer.

"Here!" I hissed, tossing her a blanket to keep warm. "Hide in that closet!"

Max quickly climbed into a tall and thin cupboard and closed the door on herself. Just in time, because Mother burst into my room, bellowing my name.

"Fang Nicols! What is this I hear about that Max girl not returning to her room? I will not have you sneaking around un-" She stopped mid-sentence looking around. "Oh."

She searched my room a little further; under the bed, my bathroom. "Oh." Again. "She's not here?"

I bit the insides of my cheeks. Mother looked so bewildered. "No. Obviously, she's not here."

Mother got a calculating look in her eyes. "Okay," she started, "Even if Maximum seems to have gone for a wander, I know she was in here yesterday. I have a source-"

"If by source, you mean Cora, they're unreliable." I interrupted. Sure, my mother intimidated me, but the worst she could do was to convince my father to disown me. Only words and manipulation.

Mother pressed on, her lips set in a tight line. "See! This Maximum girl has had a bad influence on you! Before you never would have been disrespectful to another. Oh, what have you done with my little Fang?"

"He grew up, Mother." I almost responded. Almost being the operative word here. But instead, I stayed silent and concentrated on a neutral expression.

Yet Mother wasn't finished. It seemed she'd rehearsed a speech and was intent on delivering it whole. "Fang, my darling boy. Think about the situation here. Cora is beautiful, smart, kind and her father is extremely wealthy, as is yours. The media would love you two to become a couple. There are polls taken in magazines and Cora appears quite regularly."

And so does Max, I thought. Somehow people had got photos of us together. Of course Mother wasn't going to mention that Max and Cora were both up there. (Though, because of fame and money, unfortunately Cora had a bigger percentile.)

"I just think it would be great for Cora, yourself, your father and I if you chose Cora. I am most certainly not suggesting marriage or anything like that- just good public image.

"Think about it, dear, Cora loves you for you. We can be sure of that because she already had unlimited money. Whereas 'That Girl', she doesn't love you. She only wants to be a somebody." I knew who 'that girl' was.

Mother continued. "She's a leech. She already hooked onto you and she'll suck you dry. Then she'll move onto someone else and-"

The door swung open and mentally I cussed. "Takes a gold digger to know one another. I mean, who were you, Adriana, before you met Mr. Nicols? Is it just chance your next 'boyfriend' is also a billionaire? And you're saying _I _want money. Let me put it this way, if my family was short of money, would they donate millions of dollars to charities?"

Mother's eyes blazed. I swear, that girl Max does not know when to zip the lips, throw away the key and to stay out of other people's business.

Mother grabbed my collar and literally dragged me outside into the corridor. Her left eye was twitching and I held back a laugh.

"I'll let this go, my darling. I have things to attend to. But rest assured- I _always_ get _my_ way."


	16. Chapter 16

****All rights and claims for The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names, ideas and characters belong to James Patterson. You may only reproduce, copy, use SallSall's work, writing, quotations or ideas with personal permission from SallSall. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.****

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Hey! Thanks for all the amazing reviews guys! You rock!**

**My 'rents sprung a little holiday on me the day before we left and we just got back yesterday. (There wasn't any Internet where we went.) We had a look at Hanging Rock in Australia, VIC. There are scary stories and rumours about that place. Personally, I thought it was beautiful and peaceful.**

**I've read all of the Mortal Instruments so far (there's going to be six in total!), and boy are they good.**

**Highlight of the week: someone wrote; 'he drowned his coffee.' (Instead of 'he downed his coffee') XD I thought it was hilarious. LOL.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not a she-male. Never intend to be.**

At breakfast, Nora had a smug smile on. If my arm hadn't still been in a sling, I would have tackled her then and there. I could imagine exactly where I'd make contact-

"So, what happened?" Nora pressed, still wearing that annoying smile. "I heard Adriana storming through the halls this morning towards your room, Fang. What ever for?"

"None of your business."

"It's just, you know, I've never seen Adriana like that- ever. She was like a storm ready to unleash its-" Nora was getting on my nerves.

"Yeah, yeah. Put a sock in it will you."

Nora widened her eyes and lifted up a sandal-clad foot. "But I'm not wearing any socks."

In one dept pull, I tugged off my sneaker and waved my blue stripy sock in front of her face, letting her get a big whiff. "That's okay, N-Cora, you can borrow mine. Because that's the kind of caring, sharing girl I am."

Nora wrinkled her nose. "No thankyou! That is truly disgusting."

I inwardly rolled my eyes. No shit, Sherlock. I tried ever so hard to look disappointed and sighed downcastedly. **(Is that a word?) **"Your loss, loser."

Just then, Ella and Angel burst in chirpy and fresh. They had identical hairstyles and makeup on; if it weren't for the different coloured school uniforms, they'd look eerily like twins. - Identical twins.

Angel whispered something in Ella's earand they both giggled. Ella clapped and wiggled her eyebrows. Nudge stalked in with dark circles under her eyes.

"Morning' Nudge."

A grumble in response. I guess I could have been indignant that Nudge didn't really acknowledge my greeting, but I wasn't that petty. Leave it to Nora to take offence, though. "Gee, someone got out on the wrong side of bed today." She remarked.

Nudge sucked in a deep breath. "For your information, Coraline. I didn't sleep in a bed least night. In fact, I didn't catch a wink of sleep. So you tell me how it's possible that I got out on the wrong side of bed."

Nora flinched a little but mostly held her ground. The atmosphere in the room and I could imagine starting a chant. 'Fight! Fight! Fight!' But, much to my disappointment, before I could urge them on, Nudge turned away on her heel, and Nora smirked.

I'd never seen Nudge so stressed and worked up before. It was like she was a strand of wire stretched so tight close to breaking point that she could snap at any moment. It scared the crap out of me.

I eyed Fang. "You and me need to have a serious talk _alone_. Later." I grabbed a mandarin and went for the door. It flew open.

"Jesus!" I exclaimed, surprised.

A meek looking Cate stepped in. "Actually, it's just me. But I've been told the resemblance is quite striking."

I rolled my eyes. Where did this Cate come from? Grinning despite myself, I brushed past him and went to sit in the empty reading room, away from Nora and her smirk.

I sat in peace, sucking pieces of mandarin and leafing through a mystery novel.

I was lost in the plot of my book when I heard and sensed Ella and Angel This had better be good. I looked up. And flinch/snarled.

Ella held up a form fitting emerald gown in one hand and some silver heeled sandals and a sparkling sliver headband in the other.

Angel had a dark pink, frilly thing on one arm and red ballet flats plus a clip on rose by her feet. I looked between them. Was it my imagination, or behind those hyperactive, grinning schoolgirl façades, was there some underlying tension?

Ella, seeing my confusion, hastily stepped in to explain. "Uh, we've been invited to a masquerade ball. We've brought these outfits for you to choose from."

Why? "I've worn enough dresses to last my lifetime in the last month. I'll wear my best pants and a plain shirt." Satisfied, I went back to reading.

Fang chuckled as he entered, plonking down next to me. "Max, you can't wear pants to this ball- no matter how nice they are. Some very important people will be attending. Normally I wouldn't force anything on you, but just pick one of the girls' dresses."

Without looking up, I grumbled, "Ella's." I could almost feel Angel droop a little and glare at an unaware Ella, and then she perked up again. Hmm, what was with that tension? Angel knew I would NEVER have picked her choice of dress for me. I heard the slap of hands and then I was dragged of to drop Ella off at school.

Nora was following me around. "Will you back off?" I snarled at her. She just smirked in response. Well, someone was mighty up themself today.

I took my good arm and almost punched her, stopping at the last minute. Nora flinched and snapped her eyes hut, and I bolted, careful not to jar my hurt arm.

I realised what the time was, quickly changed into my outfit and rushed out the door, only to find it had been raining. I was still running full speed, and at the stairs, I slipped, to be caught by two strong arms. "Try not to twist your ankles, too, Max."

I grinned at Fang and put my arms around his neck. "Thanks"

He leant down to give me a sweet kiss when I remembered Ella. "Sorry, Fang. I've got to go get Ella." I apologised and ran down the rest of the stairs to pick her up.

Nora watched me watching her as specially hired people plucked and powdered, painted and buffed, oohed and ahhed plus much more. I got a French manicure on my fingernails and my toenails were painted unique silvery and glittery designs. - What's the point? It'll be scratched off in no time. She left to get her own pampering done.

After my nails were coated three times, (I learnt ALL about nail-painting in the time) and dried, I was forced into a special room for a relaxing bath. My hair was piled up then everyone left me to soak in the bubbly rose scented water.

I towelled off and slipped into the green dress. Borrowing a pair of scissors from a draw, I carefully snipped here and there, altering the gown. It was ankle length with a shimmering material wound around the bottom. Initially, I thought it was strapless, but I discovered plastic straps, which I fastened.

I emerged the bathroom and twirled around for Ella. (Angel had gone to get dressed up.)

A younger lady named Clare painted a detailed swirl on my cheek, with shades of deep green and silver stars. I had to plead for one of the ladies to stop plucking my eyebrows and beg another to lay off the mascara. Real emerald earrings were put in my ears.

Eye shadow, lipstick, a tinge of blush, eyeliner, foundation, etc. was used all over. My hair was styled, and a student wove green and silver thread in a complex fashion. Lastly, my hair was sprayed with silver sparkle gel.

I was handed a mask, a small purple purse, a light jacket and the sandals from earlier.

I felt so weird and strange- clean, _too_ clean and not 'Maxy' at all. Ella and Angel (still haven't got the scoop on the underlying tension between those two) informed me that Nora, Cate, Fang, Adriana and Mr. Nicols had already left. They told me I would arrive by myself and they, my brothers and Mrs. Todds, would follow soon after.

And if anyone notice3d my handiwork, no one mentioned it. Iggy and Gazzy looked so handsome in tuxes and Angel and Ella both had on the same design, long ball gown. They each ha d a fan and a mask to cover their identities.

Saying goodbye, I hopped into my private limo and tried picturing the stupid ball. Again, I was stuck in a situation I REALLY didn't want to be in. Because, everyone knows: Maximum Ride + dances, always = trouble.

**Finally, I got that filler chapter up. I would appreciate a few reviews and I don't care if its stuff about me sucking majorly and stuff. This chapter was so boring but necessary- you'll see why soon. The next chapter and you'll see why my story is different to every one elses'! Again, please check out 'Unpredictable' (in my favourites) and also 'Maxie Who' (my new story)**

**Reviewers: I try, try, try extremely hard to reply to everyone's reviews but I will just list the top few.  
Dark-Angel-Fangalator: I tried using those ideas a bit, but it mightn't work.  
BlueButterfliesPlayOnMyGuitar: Yes, I realise that it sounded like someone giving birth. Anyway, I liked it.  
Fax is the greatest123, Mad to the Bone 1, Alsin, your reviews were awesome. I really like reading them.**

Catch you all later. I can't wait for the next chapter. Virtual chocolate cake if you review. (I may run out of cake if you all decide to review so be quick!)

**PO, SallSall. ;)**


	17. Chapter 17

****All rights and claims for The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names, ideas and characters belong to James Patterson. You may only reproduce, copy, use SallSall's work, writing, quotations or ideas with personal permission from SallSall. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.****

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Hey guys! Feels like a lifetime since I've updated, but I am now on holidays and after my trip to China (roughly 3weeks) I can get onto typing lots. Later on in this chapter, there is some minor cussing and if you don't like it, you shouldn't be reading T rated material. I had some help for this chapter, so thankyou my helper (she knows who she is). Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all if I don't post before then.**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned MR. Sadly, this is not the case.**

I felt a little uncomfortable sandwiched between Cora and my mother, both wearing extremely strong perfume. Cora was pressed closer to me than necessary. It was too late to move next to Nate on the other side of the table.

Father sat on the other side of Mother and they chatted away energetically. I didn't seem to bother Father that Mother and Richard were 'together'. Nate asked his sister to dance and thankfully, Cora accepted and went off in his arms.

Someone in a green dress made their way to the restroom. The dress s_he_ wore- at least I think she was female- was extremely similar to the one Max was going to wear. Then I spotted another girl wearing a sparkling green dress. Max? Uh, my mind was playing tricks on me.

I watched as Cora spun around in her glimmering white dress. It dazzled as light reflected off all the beads on it. Cora had all her hair piled up and she had a 'fashionable' hat on, which covered it all up. It was strange, but the hat bothered no one, it was too fancy to be counted as rude.

Suddenly Cora let out a shriek and fell to the floor. She claimed shied tripped on a loose floorboard. A small crowd gathered around her. Nate swooped down to help her up, but Cora couldn't stand on her left foot. "I'm sure it's just twisted a bit. I'll go home and put some ice on it. I just need to go to the loo, and then I'll go home." With the assistance of her make up artist friends, Cora hobbled towards the ladies'.

Nate and I hurried to help her, but she waved us away with an airy laugh. "I'll be positively fine after a bit of rest. You enjoy the dance."

Shrugging, I went back to the table and Nate followed, keeping a watchful on his sister until she was out of sight.

A few hours passed in a blur, I danced with almost every female in the room- which believe me, was A LOT. Apparently Angel, Ella, Iggy and Gazzy plus Mrs. Todds had all arrived, but still no Max.

I spun Ella in and Angel in, both of them laughing giddily. Mid twirl, the doors opened with a rush of cold air.

Everyone stopped to look, and there stood the most exotically beautiful person I'd seen in all 21 years of my life. It seemed as the late comer was surrounded by a golden misty aura. With a simple yet elegant dress with a silvery stripe seemingly wrapped around it, emerald earrings, intricate green swirls running up her arms, green and sliver string woven into a fancy hairstyle, silver heeled sandals and a detailed, green and silver themed mask, Max was stunning. And I don't think I was the only one to notice this.

As she made her way down the stairs, everyone continued talking and nibbling at finger food.

"Hi Max. I was wondering when you'd finally arrive." I whispered and put my arms around her waist. Max smiled secretively and tapped my nose lightly with her finger. I could barely see her face, just a little of her chin because of the full face mask.

"Come on. Let's see if you still remember your dance lessons."

"Dance lessons? What are you talking about?" she stopped short.

I shot Max a strange look. "Short term memory loss, huh?"

She gave a nervous chuckle. "Uh, huh." In an action I suspect was intended to distract me, Max guided me to the dance floor.

Angel, grinning widely, spun around encased in Nate's arms. I saw Ella watching them with narrowed eyes. Iggy was talking and gesturing beside her, but you could see Ella wasn't fully concentrating on him.

I had a few dances with Max and her skill level had miraculously gone from below zero to perfect. There was no shoe stepping, tripping or slipping.

"So, are you excited? For tomorrow?" I asked, grinning. She gave me a blank look.

"Stop speaking in riddles." Her voice was a bit off.

I bit my lip and worriedly stared at Max. "Are you okay?" She nodded, or, her mask bobbed up and down.

I leaned in at the end of the song to lift up the mask and give Max a kiss when someone tapped me on the shoulder. Annoyed, I straightened up and went to glare at the person who had interrupted, only to find it was, well, Max.

"Hey, Fang! We finally made it; my limo took for _ever_ to make it through the traffic jam. This is why I prefer normal sized transportation- you can take shortcuts and make tight corner turns. Who are you dancing with…?" She trailed off, getting a view of Max (the other one).

I stood back, confused as hell. I stared between the two Maxs, who immediately started to fight.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Max Ride. Who the hell are you?"

"_I'm_ Maximum Ride!"

"What? Who are you? Why do you look like me? Why do you speak EXACTLY like me?"

It was like watching two professional tennis players hitting the ball, back and forth, back and forth.

I quickly called over to Angel, who probably knew Max best. I explained the situation as best I could while Angel stared between the two girls intently. The two Maxes were still baiting each other. A rather large crowd stood nearby, curiously watching the scene as if it were a dramatic soap opera.

"Who's the other Max lookalike?" Angel asked, nudging me.

I shrugged. "I have no idea. My guess is as good as yours. I'm not even sure which Max is _the_ Max. The Max I met first this evening could have been a lookalike. I-"

"I'm not a lookalike! _She _is. I bet it's Cora, trying to annoy me and get between us."

"That wouldn't make sense at all. My sister is at home nursing a twisted ankle! She fell while I was dancing with her and- oh. _Oh!_ But how would she have talked to me on her mobile?" Nate wondered aloud, realising his sister had planned this out _very_ carefully.

"Ever heard of voicemail, bozobrain?" one of the Maxes muttered bitterly. "I cannot believe you people can't see that _I'm_ me, and she's Cora."

'Correction, I'm Max and _you're _Cora." The other Max interjected.

"Wait!" Angel's eyes light up in a light bulb moment.

"Max, say Cora again!"

"Cora." Both Maxes said. One said it especially slowly and the other raised an eyebrow as she pronounced each syllable.

Angel's slender eyebrows scrunched up into a frown. "No, that didn't work. Um, just keep on fighting ladies."

"You are such a sad bitch. You had to actually _impersonate_ me to have a nice night and have a guy kiss you."

"What the hell are you bitching about, bitch? You're the one who's dressed up like me. How did you even know exactly what I was going to wear?"

"You mean, how did you know what _I _was going to wear. In case you haven't noticed, you got some bits wrong. Our dresses aren't exactly the same, duh. They just appear quite similar. And _you're_ the only bitch around here."

They were giving me a headache. Especially with some of the words they were throwing around.

"Look, Max, Cora- if it is you- please cease fighting. Cora you seemed to be perfectly happy as yourself and Max you should know better as the eldest of the two. Now who is Cora and who is Max?" Mother attempted to calm the two Maxes down.

Suddenly, one of the Maxes jumped onto the other Max and they both toppled down on the floor in a heap of limbs. The Max (Name her Max1for now) underneath scrambled beneath her rival and kneed the other Max (let's call her Max2) in the stomach. Max2 screamed and punched Max1 square in the eye. Max 1 howled and tried to bite Max2's arm. She settled for pulling out hair.

Everyone has gone quiet and the orchestra stopped playing to witness this unladylike brawl that was taking place. I was frozen in shock and so were most other people who were capable of separating the two. Mother was sobbing and Father stared open mouthed and the two girls dressed alike struggling against each other.

Max2 (I think it's Max2) had managed to get Max1 (I'm pretty sure it's Max1) into a headlock and Max1 was kicking her legs around wildly. Max2 viciously yanked of the mask of Max1. It was Cora. As Max realised it was, indeed, Cora, she snarled and went in for another extremely hard punch to the nose.

"Break it up, break it up!" Finally, a man dressed in security guard's outfit pushed himself between the two girls- and Max's angry fist.

"Where the hell were you before, Gerald?" the host of the event hissed at him.

He looked back mildly embarrassed. "Uh, I went to the toilet?"

"And where were your partners when you went to the toilet?" She wanted to know.

"Um, also at the toilet?" he responded meekly.

"Hmm, well we'll talk about this issue later. Now, please escort these two _ladies_ outside to a limousine. They have disrupted my lovely gala night and I am quite sore on the matter. Perhaps their _parents_ would like to accompany them out, as well? I do so suggest it. I bid you good evening, Adriana." With a haughty little _humph_, Mother grabbed Cora's arm and all but dragged her outside into the chilly night.

Unfortunately, there was only one limousine waiting and not all of us could fit in one. Cora's eye is swollen and turning a nasty shade of blue while Max has a split lip and tiny dribbles of dried blood on her face and arms. (and Max appeared to be cradling her recently healed arm.)

A taxi pulled up into the driveway. Mother looked at it in astonishment. Max stepped forward. "I'll go in the taxi."

"I will too." Ella volunteered. Mother closed her gaping mouth abruptly.

"Thank you, Ella dear. At this point in time I do not wish to see either one of you." Mother glared at Max and Cora. "Your behaviour was appalling and I am ashamed beyond words. Especially, you Coraline. I expected more from you as I have had an extensive hand in raising you myself."

Cora looked at her feet and bit her lip whilst Max rolled her eyes. "Can we go, I want to get home. It's my birthday tomorrow."

Cora sniffled. "I think I really have twisted my ankle now. It _aches_." She moaned but quickly went silent with a look from Mother.

"Cora, you can go in with Ella and Max. Darling," Mother turned to Father, "we shall ride home in the limousine."

"I suppose I'll just join Max then. Since you _forgot_ to announce by which means of transport I'd be going." I noted sarcastically.

Mother waved her hand dismissively. "And you, Mrs Todd, will take the three children under your care home in another taxi. It should be here promptly. We will see you all back at the mansion."

Cora reluctantly climbed into the front seat of the cab while Ella, me and Max filed into the back. I told the driver our address and we started on our merry way.

A minute into the drive, Cora turned her head to curl her lip at Max. "You are so going to get it when we arrive home. Mother will kick you and your useless family out for sure!"

It didn't take much to get much worked up. She snarled. "If you weren't the idiot you were, you wouldn't be sporting and effing black eye and I wouldn't have a bruise on my stomach and a split lip. You're a real moron."

"Well, you practically gave yourself that split lip. It was coming your way after _you_ tackled me to the ground first!"

And it went on and on. They squabbled for a good 20minutes. The car pulled to a stop, but it wasn't outside our mansion. Confused, I went to tap the driver on the shoulder but the doors were hauled open and a screaming Ella was dragged out of the car. The same happened to Max, who put up a fight but had her wrists bound together and a gun pointed at her head.

Cora screamed at the top of her lungs and for her efforts, she was slapped into unconsciousness by the driver. I had two guns pointed at my body, so I slowly stepped out of the taxi and raised my hands.

"Well, well. If it isn't the young Nicols children, eh. Where'd ya ged 'em from Bernie?" A man dressed in an expensively made suit with a cigar in his mouth studied us. He met our looks of fear, hatred and loathing evenly.

"They was fightin' with their missus and me company was called for a taxi or two. So I pulled up, Sir, and this is what I got me self. Pure luck, really."

"Yes, well, fantastic work, Bernie. And you too, Chucky and Martie. I reckon we'll get a good lot for these. Especially the pretty girl. Boss'll like her. He hasn't had any fun for ages."

With that, he grabbed the whimpering Ella. I could barely make out her expression, the night was so dark, but she sounded scared.

"You know, our parents will know we've gone missing. They have plenty our money. They'll hunt you down." Max's voice wavered. "Take me instead."

The man grinned toothily. He rubbed his short stubble and chuckled. "Girl's got some guts! Reckon you'll give 'im a run for his money. Alright, both of you now. Come with me. And no funny business."

To prove his point, he yanked hard on Max's arm and snapped it in half. She only just bit back the scream. I couldn't rush to her aid and the tears broke my heart, but there were still two guns aimed at me. I could only give Max a sad look and she was led away.

So Max, with her broken and rebroken arm, split lip and bruised stomach along with weeping Ella was taken into a room while we were locked in a gloomy, depressing, rotting cell. Cora was laid down on the only thin mattress and we were left to wait for any rescuers or news from Ella or Max…

**So, what did you think? I hope that's enough for until I get back. I am particularly pround of this story because it is now officially entirely origianal and no one has done something like this in one story. **

**I am finally onto the awesomest part of my story and it will reach it's climax soon. Sadly, that also means it will end soon. But my beta suggests I write a sequel whenever I get round to it and I'm not sure. It will depend on people's reactions. Do you want a sequel or not? I would love your opinion. (It won't be in the Nicols' mansion anymore. New setting, some new characters, new plot.) **

**Anyway, I really have to go but I'd like to say thankyou to TREX IS DA BEST and Angel of Calamity for always supporting me. I'm sorry that I don't have time to announce the reviewers of the chapter, but send especially good reviews, and I promise I'll give shoutouts next chappie. And a super dooper big sorry for all the delayed chapters lately. We will get to the end of this story together!**

**Ciao, peeps. Until next time.**

**~SallSall :)**


	18. Chapter 18

****All rights and claims for The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names, ideas and characters belong to James Patterson. You may only reproduce, copy, use SallSall's work, writing, quotations or ideas with personal permission from SallSall. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.****

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**Aloha my readers! SallSall has returned and brought you this chapter. Brace yourselves- a lot happens. I'm sorry I didn't reply to anyone's reviews, I usually do, I was in China and the computer didn't seem to like fanfiction. There are also a few time skips. Happy New Year! (Happy January 17th, actually.)**

**I have seen lots of movies recently, but I'd like to mention Unstoppable because it was easily almost as good as Prince of Persia. Yikes!**

**My beta is back! Yay! Warning: some mature suggestive themes. This was a very mature chapter for me to write. There are also lots of time skips. Sorry. And this chapter is all my work. I am proud of most of it but it faces some serious issues and a conversation bit that was so, so hard for me to get perfect. I still don't like it much. And I feel uncomfortable writing really heavy stuff. You'll see. It's a really strange chapter, towards the end. Enjoy. **

"I didn't realize you were a pretty little thing too. What with all that blood on your face." Chuckie, who was in charge of taking Ella and I to the 'Boss', remarked as he traced the dried trails of blood on my cheek with his gnarled fingernail. I tried not to shiver out of disgust.

"Where are you t-taking us?" Ella stammered, clutching my hand as if I were her anchor.

He grinned knowingly as we walked through an alleyway. It smelt of urine and rotten food. "We are going to the Baths. Boss wouldn't appreciate us turning up with some grubby ruffmuggins off the street. You're to be prettied up by my girl Josie. She's good at that stuff, she is."

"Max, why do you think we're going to get dressed up?" Ella whispered.

I shrugged and said nothing as we were ushered up some stone steps and into a dimly lit foyer. Suddenly, a hand shot out and grabbed Chuckie.

A lady of about forty gripped him by the short hairs on the back of his neck- a trick I decided to remember for later, because he yelped in pain. She hissed into his ear, "Are you crazy, Chuck? There are plenty of cops wandering round the place. And you stand there like a stunned mullet while you could be arrested!"

This must be his Josie. She pushed us into her cozy 'health and spa retreat'. It was grimy and a little dark, but none the less brighter and a kinder looking place than the cell the others were locked in. There were three bath tubs in the main room.

We were scrubbed and bathed in lavender scented water. Chuckie disappeared and four tired looking women dried us and forced us into bathrobes. Our eyes were coated with Kohl and mascara and eyeliner, red lipstick plus way too much make up.

I was given a skin tight mid-thigh black sparkling dress with a slit up to just past my hip. Ella was given one similar except it was red. My hair was pinned up into a center point bun and Ella's quickly curled.

Josie gave us some shoes, a last touch up and a sympathetic glance. Then she bustled us back into the dimly lit corridor and Chuckie led us into the night.

"Well, aren't you two a sight to see. 'The Boss' was a lot less imposing and intimidating than one might assume from his title. In fact, I reckon I'd been more frightened by a ghastly looking lollipop. (It was a pretty disgusting sight- the lollipop.)

But I soon found out the hard way not to judge 'The Boss' by his un-ingenious, mildly boring name. I was giving him lip about the whole being gagged-and-tied-up-business because, I assure you, it was not my cup of tea- not that I'm a tea drinker or anything, I actually prefer to stay away from the stuff- when somehow I got onto the subject of his- let's be honest- crap name. I suggested he change it to 'The Best Friend', or 'The Nice Kidnapper'.

Now most people who knew me would not get angry or over react if I said this sort of stuff to them. In fact, most people would ignore me- which is sometimes quite insulting. Especially when it's my parents. They'd just roll their eyes at me and share one of those 'Looks' all parents seemed to have learnt. Now I wished I'd at least been a good enough daughter to call them and see how their trip in Hawaii was going, or if Iggy and Gazzy's pet dog had finally gone off the rails and run away. Or even asked them how well Angel was holding up in school. Or even just said: I love you guys.

Wow, got off the subject there, didn't I? Became a soppy wreck. It never happened. Or Else…

Anyway, here I was talking about new, more appropriate names for 'the Boss' when the badly named guy himself slapped me. And it wasn't a 'ha-ha, I'll slap you cuz we're buds' kind of slap, oh no, it was a 'God Dammit, Shut up, I'm fed up with you' kind of slap.

Instead of rubbing my cheek and slapping (or even punching) him back, I stuck out my hand for a shake and said, "I guess we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Justine Banks."

He gave a look that read: 'I'm not stupid; I know who you really are.' Damn, I guess 'The Boss' (I really need to stop calling him that in my head) wouldn't tolerate any more of my Maximum Ride bullshit, so I got straight to the point.

"Why are we here?"

"You've been kidnapped, Miss. Ride. As for why you're here _here_, you'll find out soon enough." The Sort Of Nice Kidnapper smiled, and in his neat pin striped suit and with slick blonde hair gelled down, he looked quite handsome. In a kidnapper-ish way.

"Well, it was nice to meet you two ladies and I've been informed there's another but she fainted. Tell her I apologize for any pain or discomfort caused. I shall see you two tomorrow morning. Good evening."

I couldn't exactly agree. It was turning out to be one of the worst evenings of my life.

We were blindfolded and led someplace smelly, shoved into a vehicle and driven somewhere, which I presumed was sure to be the cell Fang and Nora were locked in.

I was wrong. Ella and I were taken to a relatively clean hotel. We were instructed not to wash away any make up.

There were two new men I hadn't seen before who pulled up two chairs and sat by the hotel room door, guarding us, I guess. More like stopping us from escaping.

Ella and I cramped up together on the worn out bed. The blanket was scratchy and rough but it was better than nothing.

I woke up to find there was now a third body sharing our already limited bed space. It kind of reminded me of that song. You know, the one that goes: 'There were … in the bed and the little one said, "Roll over, roll over. So they all moved over and one fell out." And so on.

I turned my head to give this new person a mouthful and screamed. It was Mr. Nice Enough Kidnapper. My scream woke up Ella, who immediately started yelling and shrieking too, and we together brought the door guards running.

The Nice Enough Kidnapper blinked sleepily and stretched languorously in the bed which Ella and I had hurried to vacate.

He smiled crookedly at us and, in no hurry, made a show of getting off the bed. Which started a fresh round of squealing; he was stark naked in all his glory-or, not so glory. AND I had been sleeping squashed up next to him for who knows how long. I shivered and Ella swallow/gulped.

Ella pointed a shaking finger at him. "Could you please cover up your…genitals?"

He grinned again, rather nastily. "Why bother? You'll both be seeing me individually soon enough."

With that hint, all the dressing up suddenly made sense.

"Oh My God." It dawned on me that I was going to be forced into doing something much, much further than kissing with this vile, horrible named man. And there was nothing I could do, because as a criminal lord, he'd have dealt with more than two hysterical, somewhat desperate girls.

"You first, Maximum."

I was smirking as one of the guards dragged me back to my room-literally. My legs were not going to willingly join Fang and Nora in their dirty and smelly cell. Now, Mr. Nice Enough (or Not So Nice) Kidnapper had a black eye and was limping a bit on his left leg. Sure, I probably didn't look so great either, say I couldn't have won Miss Beauty Queen (but then, would I be able to win all prettied up?), but I felt pretty good.

I mean, for a kidnapping boss, the guy was still pretty sissy when it came to physical contact.

I was still smiling as I was towed down a stone corridor. The air got colder and I rubbed my bare arms briskly. It didn't help that my dress was torn and scraps of material fluttered annoyingly against my thighs as I moved. Or, as the guard moved me.

I had some soot on my face and the smudged eyeliner and kohl probably made my appearance even worse. Plus, I had a few additional cuts and grazes along my ankle and cheek. _And_ my arm was back in a sling. Yay for me.

I was in my own little world when the guard finally pulled me into vaguely familiar territory. We (As in me) were definitely going to pay Fang and Nora a visit. Maybe even stay over a couple of nights. I hoped they'd prepared for my visit and the floors had been scrubbed. Also that the thin mattress they'd had when I last saw their lousy living quarters had magically turned into a king sized bed with a comfy doona cover and silk sheets. _Yeah right._

I imagined the overflowing baskets of rich French pastries and trays loaded with chocolate dipped strawberries. The chocolate fondue fountain and some fresh fruit. Maybe even some warm chips and slightly crisped wedges. My tummy rumbled at the mere thought of good food. Some tiny part in the back of my mind reminded me that it had only been less than 24 hours since my daydreams could have been on the plate in front of me. Or, even better, in my mouth.

As we rounded the corner to Fang and Nora's (I refused to think of it as _my_ future home) cell, the same tiny part of my brain instinctively warned me about something. Something minor, I hoped. I really could not deal with another thing going wrong today. If the fact that Ella was now with that horribly named douche (I think you know who I'm talking about here) wasn't bad enough, what I saw after the guard coughed loudly and unlocked the cell door was.

The haze I was enveloped in disappeared and I came crashing back to reality. And figuratively, after I landed, I dashed into a nearby restaurant and staked myself with a knife. Because what I saw, was absolutely that bad.

Really though, I just stood completely still while my vision went red. Fang's face first went pale white then instantly his cheeks turned scarlet red and he hastily removed himself from Nora's –that sneaky little bitch- embrace. And it wasn't hugging either. Oh no, this was almost the real deal. Fang's shirt lay crumpled on the disgustingly dirty ground along with his black pants, suit jacket, tie and shoes and socks. Nora's predicament was much the same; her mask, her dress and her shoes were thrown disregarded against a wall.

So, let's step back and take in the picture, shall we? Nora in her lacy bra and panties and Fang in his-what other colour? – black boxer shorts. Lying on top of each other faces VERY close. Fang's hand up in the chest department and Nora's slipping down below. What would you assume? They were keeping each other warm?

I'm sorry, but if that was your conclusion, you're too nice for your own sake. Let's take a look at it Max Ride style. Fang and Nora have had an intense make out session, conveniently forgetting about me or anything else. Fang is looking like he's seen a ghost, guilty, ashamed and embarrassed; Nora also deathly pale, but also smug, a little self-conscious and shooting me a look that clearly stated they would have gone much further had I not interrupted them. I got pretty mad, pretty quickly.

I practically ripped Nora away from Fang and threw here onto the dirty floor. I then proceeded to kneel in front of Fang and grab him roughly by the shoulders and starting shaking him- violently. He held my arms firmly and tried to stop me. "Max, listen to me. You're really angry- and you have every right to be. But we thought you and Ella were gone. The guards told us the horrible things that they were doing to you. Cora and I, we found comfort in each other. I promise that's all it was."

What a retarded speech. And to think it came out of Fang's mouth. That was the real shocker. Cora sat calmly on the floor, watching us. She'd had the decency to put her dress back on.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me Fang. It's not like we were dating." He looked hurt at this and a little angry too. "We never talked about what stage we were at in a relationship, so I don't want to hear it."

Fang knew me better than to try and beg when I'd specifically said _I don't want to hear it_. As an afterthought, I asked, "What did you hear about me and Ella?" It was more a demand. I was trying to control the anger that threatened to burst out of me.

Nora jumped in to our conversation with a slight tremor as she recalled each word. "You two were abused and hit and punched and kicked and scratched and slapped and even cut. They said Ella was too weak to move without possibly dying. And you, Max, you were already…" she choked off.

"Dead? I was dead? Is that it?" My voice shook at the D word.

Fang nodded his head wordlessly. I let out a big, slow sigh. Fang pulled on his pants and shirt as I let this sink in. "Well, I'm not dead." I began, stating the obvious. My temper had deflated like a popped balloon. "Ella is currently with the boss of this whole operation thing. Um, I-"

"What is she doing with the main guy?" Nora interrupted. "What does he want with us?"

I turned to face her, a grave expression no doubt forming on my features. "For us girls, first he will use our bodies. You will be taken to see him later." Before I could continue, Fang made a sort of muffled sob sound. Nora was frozen in shock.

"You've already been... forced with him?" I nodded, but before Fang could try to comfort me or even touch me, I hastily added in my next sentence.

"But he didn't lay more than a finger on me. I beat him to it. He now has a bruised eye and a sore leg. After we had our little hand-to-hand combat session, he decided he wasn't in the mood for my crap, shoved me out and took in Ella."

Fang's face hardened. His mouth compressed into a thin, white line and I couldn't tell if he was angry or going to have a break down and cry his poor little heart out.

He ran over to the strong, unbendable metal bars and started shaking them and screaming, "You effing bastards!" Except he didn't say 'effing' if you know what I mean. "I'm going effing to kill you all if you touch a single hair on my sister's body! You effing jerks! I will murder you all in your sleep. Don't touch my baby sister-EVER!"

Nora and I shared a look. For once, we agreed on something. We both simultaneously grabbed an arm of Fang's each and, with a bit of struggling, we manage to seat his bottom on the hard, cold floor. Nora was asking if Fang was OK. He said he was fine. And I deliberately ignored them, my anger from earlier returning. I couldn't handle Nora treating Fang like an unhappy baby and him totally falling for it.

A while later, I felt body heat next to me and I rolled over, with my eyes still shut. Fang sighed gustily. "Max, we need to talk." He cautiously put an arm around my waist and drew me in close.

I didn't move, enjoying Fang's company despite myself. Fang didn't move or say anything else; he just huddled against me, his firm body pressed up against my back. There was nothing sexual to the moment, just…rightness. A rightness that reminded me of how close I was to forgiven him, even if I didn't want to.

"By the way, Fang. You totally helped make this one of the worst days I've ever had. It sucked majorly. I knew as soon as N-Cora showed up and your mum openly hated me, we probably wouldn't end up together. But then, you stayed with _me _and I was super happy. And now you've just thrown it in my face, on my _birthday_."

Nora sucked in a huge, shocked breath. "Oh My God, Max. I am so sorry, so so sorry. I will never be sorry enough. I know I've been a bitch about this whole thing and it was my entire fault, I swear. I didn't remember it was your birthday, I should have-"

"Wait,_ remember_? I never told you it was my birthday. And why should you have remembered my birthday?" I stared at Nora. Eliminated the perfect teeth, the dyed hair, the fake tan, the Botox pouty lips, the straight hair. I swallowed hard. Fang was looking between us, a frown etched into his forehead.

"Is somebody going to tell me what's going on?" he demanded, frustrated.

Nora shakily smiled at me (she knew I'd figured it out, and then explained for Fang. "I'm not Coraline. My birth father isn't Richard and Nate is only my half-brother. Adriana put me up for adoption then later found me and had me again. My real name is Ingrid Follows. I, um, used to be-"

I interrupted her again. "When did you start hating me then? What happened to Best Friends Forever?"

"You hurt me Max, by leaving. And so when I found out it was you he was cheating with, I wanted to hurt you too. It was one thing to sleep with my boyfriend, but another to run away. Eventually, he told me. And you were too much of a coward to tell me before you disappeared. When my mother readopted me and remarried, I needed my best friend, but you weren't there." Nora- or should I say Ingrid- started sniveling and wiped her nose on her arm.

I bit my lip. I gave her a tentative hug. "I didn't run away from you because of Callum. I ran away because I didn't like the person I was becoming, and the only way to be a better me was to get away and start fresh. I'm a new person now, I'm sorry that I couldn't contact you, but with my new personality came new phone numbers and a new email address."

As soon as I'd finished, the cell door was wrenched open and a surprised, sniffling Nora was dragged out. Suddenly, the corridor went black and the only sliver of light came from a tiny window far above our heads.

"What the fuck?" one of the guards murmured.

Another guard cursed. "Must be a power outage. Damn electricity. Well, come on you slut. We're doing this in the dark then. Unlucky for you. Move." I heard Nora whimper and the heavy tread of boots.

"Hang in there, Cora, Ingrid, whoever you are. Don't' let him touch you. I promise I'll get us all out of here." I yelled. My voice bounded from wall to wall. I liked the sound of it.

I heard the rushed pitter patter of steps coming towards me, and my arm was grabbed through the cell doors with scary precision. I screamed as he shook my arm- the broken one.

"That'll teach you to keep your mouth shut. As soon as The Boss is done with you girls, the ransoming will begin. And if your parents don't pay high enough, an action will be held. Keep quiet." He ran loudly with gusto down the corridor and disappeared into the murky blackness.

I lay back down on the bed, accidentally rolling over Fang in the process. He was stiff and silent. I certainly wasn't in the mood for forgiving, so I curled up into a tight ball and tried to go back into that world I was in before, where the cruel Ice cold water was a chocolate stream and the hard, thin mattress was a layer of sponge cake, served with extra cream and passion fruit sauce.

If only fate would be so kind. But nope, I'm stuck here with a mopey Fang (he's kind of scaring me) and the stinky, overflowing toilet next door. Oh, and my dress is torn and I'm probably going to catch hypothermia. Could my _birth_day get any worse?

Of course, because I just promised I'd play hero to Nora/Ingrid.(Never could get her name right.) And when I promise something, it gets done. Damn. Why can't I just keep my big, fat mouth shut? I'll tell you why, because I'm Maximum Ride.

**I don't know what just came through my mind. That was actually a really suckish chapter. Ah well, I'm hoping all the action is next chapter. There will be a lot of ranting. And I promise to reply to EVERYONE'S reviews. BTW, I know she's already been mentioned, but Ember Filled Mist definitely highlighted one of my days in China with her awesome as review. Second: The Codebreaker, faxforever and VivaLaKatee (you used my catch phrase; Holy guacamole. Not cool. But good review besides.)**

**Come on guys, I know there's an awesome reviewer in all of you! Who will be mentioned next?Please put your opinion on a sequel in again. Lots didn't say anything. Catch you next time!**

**~SallSall the Salmon**

**P.S. anyone read Beautiful Malice?**

**P.P.S I may have mentioned it but, please review! We've made 300!**

**P.P.P.S This is the longest chapter I've ever typed for any fanfiction. L8terz.**


	19. Chapter 19

****All rights and claims for The Nanny as original work belong to SallSall. SallSall has occasionally used phrases or ideas from other authors. If The Nanny incidentally resembles another piece of writing, all similarities are entirely coincidental. Certain names, ideas and characters belong to James Patterson. You may only reproduce, copy, use SallSall's work, writing, quotations or ideas with personal permission from SallSall. Copyrighted SallSall, 2011.****

Fang Nicols is the guy EVERYONE wants to know, and Maximum Ride is a girl desperate to finally move away from home. Max is practically the ONLY girl who doesn't know who Fang is and as a last resort, she applies for the job of The Nanny. At their first encounter something not far off the claiming of hearts is kindled. But can their love survive the harsh reality of being a billionaire's son and the scenarios that can come with too much authority?

**I am here, after a very long break from writing. I AM NOT PROUD OF MYSELF, OR THIS CHAPTER. Updates will become more and more irregular, as I now have truckloads of homework, plus just had my grade 7 piano exam and less and less time. But I will prevail. This story will get finished in time, by the end of this month. I swear. After that, I'm going on a fanfiction holiday, so I can type lots of chapters without having to worry about updating. Then, I can update once every day- how unlike me would that be? So, please read on. I hope I haven't lost any readers from my laziness, cuz that would just SUCK! BTW, Max was put back into her old green dress. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. Although, at this point in time, I'm kind of glad, because I know A LOT of people who are more than a little pissed at JP. Fang's gang. Pfft.**

Part One of the Plan

I woke up in Max's unknowing embrace. Sometime in the night she had rolled over and gently fastened her arms around my waist. I smiled. It seemed that at least subconscious Max didn't hate me.

Max started stretching and yawning and I stiffened. She smiled sleepily at me for a long few seconds. Then she started looking around the cell and got a confused look on her face. "We've been kidnapped." I reminded her gently, before she could ask the inevitable.

Max glared at me, scuttling backwards. "So you remember." I guessed, and she nodded, still giving me a wide berth and a Look. I sighed. Well, there was no point pretending we were still good friends- maybe more. I sat up and wearily dragged my hands over my face. I'd shaved before the party, but stubble was already making my jaw itchy rough. I could smell my body odor and wished- probably for the first time in my life- that The Boss would switch teams so _I_ had a chance to have a nice shower and get prettied up.

"Look, Max-" I began. She interrupted me with a deadly scowl, stood up and started pacing back and forth.

"I promised I'd help N-Cora-Ingrid-whatever, get out of here, and I intend to keep that promise. Now, last night I discovered a tiny source of light coming from above. I didn't notice a window though, because they turned off the lights pretty fast. During the day, while you weren't _busy_," I winced at Max's tone. "Did you notice anything?"

I shook my head firmly, a blush coming to my face. Truth be told, I _had_ been pretty busy and distracted and therefore hadn't even thought of escape. I started rubbing the sides of my arms- it was pretty chilly as I studied Max.

Max's used-to-be-beautiful green dress was in tatters. The main slip of silky fabric was intact, but it was torn to 10 inches above her knee. The silver stripe that used to wrap around and hug her delicious curves was hanging off in scraps. Max's silver sandals were… no longer silver. They bordered the edge of dirt brown and grime black. The carefully set diamonds had been picked out, no doubt by some greedy guard who was in charge of her things and the delicate straps that used to hold the shoe together were ripped and fraying.

Max's hair was pretty gross, as well. Someone, between yesterday's taxi and this morning, had attempted fixing her hair into a respectable doo, but it couldn't possibly match the standards of Ella's personal _stylists._ The plaited strings that were woven intricately into Max's hair had begun unwinding. Max's hair was greasy and gritty, the strands of hair sticking together with who knows what forming almost professional looking dread locks.

"You look pretty bad, you know." I remarked, regretting the words instantly as they came out.

Max raised her eyebrows. "Yeah? Well, I wonder why."

I bit my lip and she sighed. "Fang, you're acting strange even for your strange self, so I'll cut you some slack. Let's just put that stupid _thing_ that happened yesterday out of our minds and try to escape. I'd rather have a cheating boyfriend than be a dead Maxie."

"What thing that happened yesterday?" I asked innocently.

Max started to give me the Look, but then realization dawned and she smiled, "Atta boy." She banged and rattled on the bars of our metal prison and yelled insults down the empty corridor. A guard came barreling along and stopped in front of Max, pausing to catch his breath. He looked around our age, with nice un-fake teeth, a warm smile and a healthy body. It made me wonder as to what he'd done or who he'd gotten involved with to end up playing guard for an illegal kidnapping business.

"So you're still here? I thought you were going to be, and I quote: 'gone like a distant memory of that thing you once thought you remembered but couldn't, because it was long lost.'" He raised a brow at Max, and trained his light grey eyes on me, sizing me up. I looked at Max instead of returning his stare.

I'm pretty sure my eyes conveyed the '_did you really say that?' _I was about to ask, because Max shrugged. "I can be insightful sometimes. Plus, I'm pretty sure I was still high off adrenaline and my imagination, so I was spouting psychobabble." She turned to the guard, who was smirking at her.

They'd obviously shared a lengthy chat yesterday. In between her waking up in bed with The Boss, being forced with The Boss, punching and beating up (rather skillfully, dare I say) The Boss and catching Cora/Ingrid (sometime soon, we needed to figure that out) with myself.

"Now that I have your attention, I'd like to file a formal complaint against The Boss. But first, my calves are aching, and my face is bruised and swollen _and_ I am _starving-"_

"-Oooh, you know how Max gets when she's super hungry."

"_And_ I need a shower. _And_ can I have a damn chair? I've tried sitting on Fang, but that dude is as hard a rock, man. Come on, please?"

The guard frowned, trying to figure Max's motives out. Was she planning on-could she pull off- an escape with the aid of a chair? Would he get in trouble _if_ she wasn't supposed to get a chair and he gave her one? Finally, I guess he decided Max really did just want a chair and she wasn't going to break off one of the legs and stake him or anything like that.

"I have to run it by higher authority, but yeah. I'll try getting you a chair. Is that all, Malady?"

He half smiled then walked back down the way he'd come from, locking another door further down on his way. Its clang rang through the corridor and Max rubbed her hands gleefully as she turned towards me. She beckoned me closer.

"I've got a plan. It all depends on if I know N-C-Ingrid as well as I think, and if she still has the same weird hobby…"

Part Two of the Plan

Ella and Cora were literally thrown in the cell and the two livid guards were breathing heavily. "You might have fooled The Boss, but you're not getting out of here alive. Your parents are going to pay big. We won't have to work in this horrible place again! We'll be free of our debts."

Max perked up from where she was sitting, curled up and rocking back and forth. "You mean you're going to kill us anyway?" she tried pulling an innocent face and I don't know whether they were buying it.

"That's how the kidnapping business works, sweetheart. Unlucky for you. We'll probably come get all of you later."

As soon as they banged the door shut, I pounced on Ella. "Did they hurt you?"

Ella began to talk but Cora interrupted. "He didn't touch Ella. I said he could…he could… I'd go instead of her."

Max paled. "Twice?" she sounded strangled. She patted the spot next to her on the mattress while I pulled Ella into a brotherly hug. She was shaking, but trying to keep a bright smile plastered on her face.

"How was it?" I heard Max ask quietly.

Cora took a deep breath and her bottom lip stopped wobbling. "I just imagined I was somewhere else. I was reliving you and me together-the best moments of my life. Remember that time when we baked those cupcakes but forgot about them and started curling our hair. Then we iced the blackened things completely so no one could see and put them in the fridge. But you ate one later anyway and turned green?

It was like I was right there again. I didn't feel anything. Then it was over. I've locked all that away already."

There was moisture forming in both the girls' eyes. Max wiped an escaped tear from her cheek and Cora sniffled. Ella and I went down to join them and it felt that, in the last three days, I had gotten closer to all of them. We were a tight knit group and no one could pit us against each other. I guess our unity was one of the things that kept us all motivated. We could wallow in self-pity or try and do something about the situation. Thankfully, we had Max.

"Ingrid?" Max whispered, a note of hope in her voice.

Cora crossed her legs and sat up to face Max. Ella watched intently and I wondered if this had something to do with Max's plan.

"Yeah?"

"When I was put into the dress for The Boss, I noticed an exquisite nail grindy thing. Do you still collect them?"

Cora grinned, sniffled and reached into her similarly tattered green dress and pulled out a purple, shimmery nail file. She offered it to Max.

Max winked at me.

"At least I can have pretty nails on my deathbed."

The same two guards who'd _returned _Coraand Ella earlier stomped upto our cell door and furiously twisted the key in the lock.

Max raised her head from her brace position against the wall. She straightened her legs but made no move to get up. "What? Having a hard time doing the boss' dirty work?"

One of the guards snarled. "Shut up!"

His friend strode cockily over to where Max sat and brutally grabbed her healing arm. I heard a faint _crack_ and Max winced.

"Jerk. You're too weak to let me have two arms to defend myself. I'd beat you to a pulp."

The first guard sniggered, fisted a few thick locks of Ella's hair and pulled her up. Ella screamed. I jumped up to help my sister but the guard produced a gun out of his pants and pointed it at me.

"Don't. Move."

I swallowed but took another step forward. "You're not going to kill me before you get your money."

I moved the rest of the way over to Ella- who was trying not to scream even though I could only imagine the pain she was going through and I was right; he had orders and he was probably too chicken to pull the trigger anyway.

He released Ella's hair and aimed the gun at Cora. "Get up."

Cora wasn't so sure he wouldn't shoot her and slowly stood up, keeping her eyes on the gun. As soon as she was up, he spun her around and kept the gun pointed at her forehead.

The guard -without -the- gun twisted Max's bad arm behind her back. The position was designed to hurt with a normal arm, and Max clenched her teeth. She spat on his shoe and he growled, bringing her arm higher. Max grimaced but managed a half smirk. "Is that all you got? I would've thought-"

One moment Max was standing sideward to the guard, the next she was almost lying on the ground, her body propped up by her bad arm. Silent tears trailed down the dirt caking her face. I was repulsed by this method of getting us to cooperate.

"Stop it! Just take us."

The gun guard sneered at me, curling his top lip. "Pretty Boy wants to play hero, does he? Well, the last time I checked, you were the hostage and I was the guy with the gun. Don't think I won't shoot. –If you need an example of who's boss, I'll happily defy orders."

Max scrambled to her feet as her guard started walking to the cell door. Both guard glared at me, daring me to run. Ella and Max shuffled next to the guards and Nora and I walked in front, with the gun constantly moving between the two of us.

We were led down numerous passageways, all colder and gloomier than the last until we started climbing flights and flights of stairs. Flight one, 32 steps, flight two, 50 steps, flight three, 22 steps. We finally stopped outside a wooden door.

The guard with the gun knocked and the door swung open.

The Boss and what I assumed to be his closest band of goons sat at a table in the center of the room. It had an arced window and the floor was covered in soft carpet.

"My guests have arrived! Welcome, welcome."

The guards let go of Ella and Max and we were pushed into the room.

I noticed four isolated seats opposite the elegant dining table The Boss had just walked away from.

Suddenly Max crashed to the floor next to me and she groaned. The bastard had kicked her legs from behind. The guard kicked her in the stomach once for good measure and to emphasize his point. The sickening thud replayed in my head. Max whimpered.

The Boss gave the guard a questioning look. "This one was extremely non cooperative. I think she understands now." The two guards bowed respectfully, turned around and went to leave.

In the blink of an eye, The Boss had whipped out a handheld gun and shot the guard who'd handled Max in the hand.

I warned my orders are to be followed to the end exactly as I give them. I think you can understand now," he mocked.

The guard looked at his hand in shock and it looked as if he were going to try and get revenge, but his partner pulled him away and they disappeared.

The Boss turned to stare me in the eyes. "Well, well. Looks as if the fun has just begun. My, the Nicols boy." He tutted and mumbled to himself. "The sole inheritor." He chuckled and guestured to the four seats. He turned to the men sitting at the dining table. "Tie them up."

"Mrph!" Max screamed through her gag. It was an old rag which was moulding at the edges and growing disgusting white fluff. She rattled on her chair, making angry red indents were the rope was tied around her ankles and wrists.

They had taken care to secure Max and me especially tight. If I moved at all, I was afraid I would tip over and not be able to get back up. The guard would think it hilarious and suitable punishment.

"Shut up." The Boss hissed. He had a disposable phone, and even though they could be traced, he was confident enough about his security that he wasn't scared of the possibility of a face-off.

"Mr Nicols, your three children are here are we speak. They are struggling against my restraints and listening to your every word. …Yes, the other girl is with us too."

Max's disappointed look stirred the deepest feelings locked away in my heart. But I didn't believe her parents had forgotten about her. And Father wouldn't have referred to her as 'the other girl'. The Boss was trying to turn us against each other. Max was our strongest link, physically and emotionally and she needed to feel alone and mistreated.

"Mraaaaph!"

"Oh look, your son wants to speak to you right now." The Boss laughed cruelly. His semi handsome face was distorted with meanness. Now he was dressed in another impeccable suit, this one a striped blue. He was even wearing a red bow tie and had his hair slicked back neatly. He'd really dressed up for the entertainment.

Max shook around more.

Suddenly, one of the guards came up behind me and pressed the blunt part of his carving knife to my throat.

My gag was ripped off and I screamed as he flipped the knife over. It wasn't very deep, but I still felt the hot blood trickle down my neck and the stinging sensation as he pushed it in ever so slightly.

"You hear that? That's the sound of your next heir being drained of his blood-" a little dramatic, I thought. "-Yes. We want the money. If you don't pay up, we'll drain them all. Maybe sell the girls to a black market."

"I can assure you they are very much alive. You just heard your son's screaming. No, It wasn't a recording."

A pause.

"Fine."

The Boss turned around sharply and stopped smirking at me a second to snap out, "Bring me a camera and hook it into the special laptop. We've got to send them some live footage. HURRY UP!" whatever my Father had said had made him a very angry kidnapper.

"Here, he wants to speak to you. Wait! I know; I'll put it on speaker phone, so I know what you're talking about." The Boss _kindly_ signaled for the guard with the knife to take off my gag and step away from me so I could breathe somewhat normally.

"Son."

I uttered the one word I'd only said once in my life before. "Dad."

My voice was croaky and parched, but it was recognizably mine and I heard Father sigh with relief.

"Fang, my boy. Are you all okay? All the police forces I could gather are preparing take the warehouse by siege. You'll be out by nightfall."

I heard other voices over the line and a lot of feedback started crackling through.

"Fang!"

"-Cora!"

"-Max!"

"-Ella!"

Everyone was screaming all our names.

"Oh My GOSH! IS THAT FANG?"

Ella, Cora and Max all tried to speak through their gags.

"Nudge, Mr and Mrs Ride, Mother, guys. Yeah, I'm here. We're all fine. A little-" I looked at Max. "Okay, _a lot_ banged up, but we're alive. You can't take this place by siege, they've got so many weapons-"

A rough hand made its way to my face. The slap stung, and I got the message that I wasn't allowed to say things like that.

"Fang! Are you there?" I could hear Nudge screaming in panic and praying.

"Yes, I'm still here. Not allowed to reveal information. For some reason-"

"Fang, I've been sooooooo worried about you! You know, I've been told not to talk so much but these situations really bring out the worst in my chattery habits. I've just missed you guys so much and it was all that stupid taxi. –I KNEW we shouldn't have called taxis. Everyone's here. All of Max's family too and Richard- he's a really nice man. Father and he have bonded over your kidnapping. And I know that's horrible, but you have been gone a long time-"

Only a few days, I thought.

"- but seriously, it's so quiet and scary and I can't believe you guys got kidnapped. It's such a bad thing to have happened and I could go on forever about the news reports. The paps caught wind of your disappearance and I'm so glad you're still alive and I can't express my joy at hearing you're all okay and

"I'm so scared and worries and upset and FREAKING GOING CRAZY thinking aboput you guys locked in cells and being tortured. But don't worry; I think we're paying the money. Like, I know the police don't want to, but Father insists. I dearly hope they don't kill you after, but did Father tell you the police are going to storm the warehouse anyway and-"

"If you don't keep that excessive talker away from the phone, I'm disconnecting." The Boss warned. I heard Nudge's harp inhalation of breath and I guess someone took her away just in case.

"I've changed the demand: I want 1 billion dollars cash by 6pm. Don't say you don't have it; I don't like liars. You will be permitted into the lower level building to deliver it and don't think of trying any stupid moves.

The Boss walked to Cora and licked a trail from her collarbone to her chin. The path of saliva glistened and Cora made a small sound of disgust. The Boss cackled. "You better pay up sooo-ooon," he taunted.

Part Three of the Plan

Max sighed and tried to look depressed. I silently commended her on her fine acting skills because I knew I was bursting with the knowledge of our secret plan. The one guard checking up on us was the nice one who'd given Max the chair.

He smirked, "Something troubling you?" He stood waiting for a reply.

Max sighed again. "Yes. You're going to kill us after, whether you get the money or not, aren't you?"

He looked a bit sad and wistful. "Yeah, they're going to shoot you. It'll be painless, so that's nice of The Boss. Sorry you had to go this way. Once I get my pay, I'm going to get out of the family business, finish school and put this all behind me."

I blurted out, "The family business? Is The Boss your _father_?"

The guard laughed and he knelt down to give his feet a rest for a second. "Close, he's my uncle. I have to get back to my other duties, but if you have any last wish…"

"Can I have a piece of paper and a Sharpie? I would like to write a letter to my family." Max and I said in sychronisation, just as we had planned.

Ella piped up, "Me too." I smiled; Ella was such a kind hearted girl. She had no idea that we were planning on getting out. In a way, I felt sorry for Cora and my sister. They really thought we were going to die tonight. None of those, 'if today was your last day, what would you do?' questions had prepared them. And even if they'd figured out exactly what they would do, it's not like they had the opportunity to make that reality.

He nodded and reached into his breast pocket. He flung a worn diary and a black pen at us. "I always liked documenting my thoughts. You guys can have it." On that awkward pause, he left.

Max grabbed the diary and ripped out two pages. "Ella and Cora, you go first. I'll wait."

I stood up and looked directly at Max. "You're riding on a lot, you know?"

Max met my stare evenly, not flinching. "I know my parents, and I think I know yours."

"You try getting some rest. I have a feeling this is going to be a heck of a long night." I watched over Ella as she drifted in and out of sleep. The sun had disappeared and there had been no raid. Thankfully, the guards had left the lights on in our cell and the corridor.

Cora sank down beside Ella and tried to fall asleep with her head on her arm.

Max nodded at me and whispered urgently. "We don't have much time. They've begun negotiating down there.

"We'll give you half the money and you let all the prisoners out," came the megaphoned voice shouting from below. The head officer was trying to bargain with our lives.

"I'm not stupid; I want all the money and _then_ I'll let them go." The Boss was not having anything he didn't want. He sounded like he was screaming back from an open window around the other side of the building.

"We're at a stalemate. You've got to trust me! I'll up the money, but you're not getting all of it. Three quarters and you let them go. Then you can have the rest."

"I want immunity, too. You can't capture me tonight."

"You know you've got one of the richest men in the world's children there, don't you? Immunity isn't going to get you anywhere. I repeat: three quarters of the money and you let them go."

"And I repeat: N.O. I want your personal promise that I can live under an alias and escape the country. Otherwise I'll tell my men to shoot. It's the money or their lives. And the richest man in the world is going to be a billion short soon."

"Fine! You are granted immunity in this country. I can't stop Mr. Nicols' people hunting you down in your next, though. Now send them down!"

Max shook her head and frowned. "He's just agreed to their terms. They're going to demand all the money and still kill us now." Max hurriedly shook Ella and Cora awake. She poked her head out of the cell bars one more time to check the cost was clear before nodding. Mostly to herself.

I eyed her, "Is it time?" I ignored the other two's strange looks, Max and I had decided to keep our plan secret.

Max nodded at me and pointed to sleep disorientated Ella. "You are going out that window up there."

Ella's eyes widened and Max pushed her forward and dragged the chair under the window. "I can't reach it; even standing on that chair."

I climbed onto the chair after Max shot me an impatient look. "We don't have much time. You can't reach it because it was designed so not many can reach it. However, I've been up there and there is some pipework running all along the brick wall. Climb up Fang's shoulders and go foot first out the window."

Ella started shaking, "I can't do that!" she was turning an unhealthy shade of white. But Cora was already completely white and a little green in the face.

Max hissed. "We don't have much time. I'll go up first, to push out the wood I've grinded down with the nail file and send down my message before the cops do anything stupid, but you're going _down_ first. Ella, be strong. You can do whatever you think you can do. And I _know_ you can do this. Everything has to be quick from now on. Who knows when they'll come."

I bent down for Max and gave her a retarded version of a piggyback. She braced her hands on my shoulders and hoisted her feet to where her shoulders were. "Make sure you both watch. You'll both have to do this afterwards. She put all her body weight on the wall and slowly inched up until her hands were on the window sill. She fully bashed out the two loose blocks of rotten wood and straightened out her legs slowly.

She slithered out on the thick window ledge and leaned right out. I grabbed her waist in case she lost her balance and started to fall out. Max pulled the two paper planes out of her bra and waved her arms around.

There were a few shouts from below.

Max expertly floated the paper planes down and grinned when she got the thumbs up. "There are thousands of lights down there and it is easy to see." She hopped down lightly and turned to Ella.

Ella, grey faced copied Max and maneuvered out the window foot first.

"Max, I'm scared." Max smiled reassuringly at her. And Ella slowly climbed down the pipes, mumbling mantras to herself.

"It's okay, we've got a net. I repeat, we've got a net, you can let go." The megaphone person was speaking to Ella.

I heard Ella's scream as she let go and the cheer from below. She was safe. One down, three to go.

Max turned to Cora, who was still green faced and stuttering. "Max, I can't possibly do that. I'm afraid of heights, I'm a coward, I'm totally going to vomit…"

Max somehow convinced Cora to get to the foot first out the window position and Cora started having another nervous breakdown.

Max sighed. "You're going to thank me later," pushed off the groundwith one leg and blanced on the tiny bit of spare chair then pushed Cora out the window. Her scream was deafening, but again we heard the cheers down below.

I turned to Max.

"And then there were two."

I gritted my teeth as the rough concrete cut into my hands. I managed to spin myself so I was facing Max. I leaned in as far as I could without falling back in. She stood on the chair and reached up. Our fingers just brushed.

"Can you edge yourself in any further?" She asked. I hated the hopeless note in her voice, but it had to be like this. She wasn't tall enough to reach the window on the chair by herself.

"No, you'll have to jump."

She tested her weight on the chair and we both winced at the creaking.

"Okay." Her face was set. "On three?"

"One," She moved her weight about, causing more creaking, "Two," I braced myself against the window frame, "Three." She jumped, and the chair smashed from the force of it. I grabbed one hand.

"Shit, Fang. That's the broken one."

"I know, Max. I know. I'm sorry."

The lights suddenly went out and we could hear the door being thrown open and the guards yelling as they rushed down the corridor. They must have realized what the shouting from the megaphone was from.

The lights flickered off, leaving us in darkness. There was complete silence then a roar. The banging of bullets sweeping past us spurred me on. The guards couldn't get in because Max had stuck some things in the lock, but they still had guns.

"Max, I'm going over. Hold on."

I shifted my body weight carefully out the window and felt Max coming out with me. Soon, I was standing on the narrow pipe attached to the brick wall and just being able to hold on to Max's arms. My hands were getting sweatier and sweatier and they were sliding down. She had her head out, and her shoulders were slowly coming, but her whole body was battered and she was very weak.

If I hadn't been pulling her through, she wouldn't have been moving. I felt she'd used up all her strength getting Ella and Cora out to safety. More and more guards poured in and the bullets clanged around. Max gasped a few times, and I knew she'd been shot a couple of times.

Max's stomach was finally on the ledge. I let myself start to feel hopeful, and then the cell door was wrenched open. The guards rushed in, most out of ammunition. Max was being tugged back into the cell. I bent my body painfully against the wall, trying to keep from being pulled back in as well.

Max was being pulled apart. She howled and I felt her grip loosen.

"Max! NO! Hold my freaking arms, please! Max!" I was crying. My hands were sliding, I got shot in the chest and I felt blood start to gush out.

"I love you." She whispered and let go.

My hands slipped and I started falling.

"I love you too. Always." But maybe it was too late…

**Yay! It's here. Only half a year late… :/**

**Harry Potter is over and I've caught One Direction Infection. :/ Next chapter should be up soon, depending on response. Please, please, review. I was getting great feedback for the last few chapters! And sorry if you get the feeling this was a bit rushed. I've been working on this annoying chapter **_**forever**_** and I just want to post this entire story so I can fully think about my new one. **

**Oh, and credit to Zanera who wrote some of the end bit 'cause I couldn't seem to type out my ideas.**

**~Sall**


	20. Chapter 20

**HEY! I missed you lot!**

**Almost at the end… I'll just go back and edit everything, and give the chapters names if I can. There will be one more chapter (probably 3****rd**** person view). Fang started the story, and it's only right if Max gets to finish it more or less. ;)**

**I thought this was an original way of telling you everything that happened, without Max accounting the whole thing, which would be a tad boring and over used. To be honest with you, I quite like this chapter but I am fairly crap at building a lot of suspense, so this will have to do . Sorry it's so cliched.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

I was drowning. No, I was floating. Floating about a meter underwater. I swear I could hear faint voices. People… talking to… me? I remembered the smell of disinfectant from my last accident. So, I was in a hospital- _yay_. I wondered what I'd done this time. I felt physically perfect. Actually, better than perfect. It was like the rare mornings I could lay in bed and not be disturbed until late afternoon. I'd lie in the company of my warm sheets and fully wake up to a kiss from Fang. Now was the time I was going to wake up- but…I couldn't.

That's when I rose about 30cm. I realized my eyes were closed, and when I tried to open them, they were weighed down as if I had lead for eyelids. I could smell more now, and hear precisely what was going on. But there was still that surreal feeling that I was alone- just drifting by myself.

"Max. Max, you've got to get better, you hear me? The doctors say you can probably hear me, so I'll tell you everything." I knew that voice! It was one of my closest…friends? I had actual friends? Fang! It was someone named Fang. - The guy who I woke up to some mornings! What a peculiar name. I listened to his deep voice; it made me feel nice and relaxed, like I was finally breaking the surface. Or so close.

"Max, _my Max_. You were so brave- leaving yourself for last. I hated myself when I let go of you. You just slipped out of my grasp, like I was trying to grab water. A lot of the guards had guns, and they were shooting blindly at you once you fell back in. You broke three fingers on your bad arm from the impact. We-I could hear everything. You screamed, Max. And it was the worst sound I'd ever heard in my whole life. It clawed at my heart and drove my mind crazy.

"Automatically- as if my body was on autopilot- I ran towards the building. I could see four fingers- only four- clinging desperately to the ledge of the window. You screamed again, this sounded worse. I saw your fingers shaking, from where the ambulance staff pulled me back to their make shift hospital and made sure I hadn't touched my bandaged bullet wound. I was forced down, but I yelled. I screamed with you. It hurt so much, to hear you breaking and inside, I was breaking too. My God, I was breaking." Fang was crying. In wonder, I discovered I could feel him clutching my hand and gentle, moist tears dripped onto my face, where Fang clumsily tried to wipe them off. I still couldn't move, much to my frustration. I willed him to keep going. I wanted so badly to know how I'd ended up paralyzed in my least favourite place of all- okay, make that s_econd_ least. The cell was pretty horrible.

"Slowly, ever so freaking slowly, your pretty much broken hand came up to join the weak four fingers. Then your good hand was over, and you gripped the pipe just below the rough cemented ledge. And you began to pull yourself over, Max. So painfully- you shrieked and screamed with every movement. I yelled at the bastard police, firemen, assembled news people, _anyone_, to help you. But no one did. They were so, so shocked and admiring, Max. Admiring _you_. They said they couldn't get up there. The best they could do was to catch you when you came down.

"You were struggling, Max. Showing super human strength where any other person would have given up. You pushed through pain, Max. Later, they found you'd been shot 3 times in the legs, once in the back. Because, you see, the police cut the power of the warehouse converted cell. The men were shooting at you from a range of three meters, but they couldn't see. They weren't good shots anyway.

"You managed to get both your arms over the ledge. But the pull was too much for you. You desperately strained your muscles. Right now, you've torn your biceps and triceps, pectorals and pulled an abdominal muscle. You have a twisted ankle, a broken arm, four broken fingers, 4 healing bullet wounds, a long, deep gash down your forearm, a bruised and scratched face, you cut your head open, too, on the window as you struggled out. I don't ever want you to see yourself like this."

I wished he would stop talking about my injuries. I wanted to prompt him; remind him he was telling me the gruesome story of that night. As if he could read my mind, Fang continued, after he blew his nose a couple of times.

"After a lot of heaving, you finally got your chest over. I stopped holding my breath. You were going to be okay- you had to be! I knew you'd be able to escape, and then everything would be fine. The police would raid the warehouse, and arrest all the people in that building.

"As you wiggled out, holding the wall and pipes running along the wall for support, you tried to squeeze one of your legs onto the ledge, but you were struggling so badly. I yelled louder, but someone just clamped their hand across my mouth. You wobbled, and almost fell back in. I cried out.

"Instead, you toppled right out the window, screaming. There was dried blood all over you, and you had several gushing open wounds. You were just a blur of red as you fell through the air. You fell from a height of 15 meters, Max. Everything slowed down, but you keep falling through thin air.

"Lots of people stood holding a big net underneath you, and you were definitely going to land in it. But the firemen were worried that the net would be stretched to the ground, and you'd hit land from the impact of your fall. You see, Max, the rest of us climbed slowly down the pipework and jumped into the net from about four meters, where the pipes stopped.

"You were screaming and your whole body was mutated. Your face, along with the cuts and scratches, was caked in dirt that had stuck to your wounds from the cell. And the tears, Max, you had tears running down your face. Your entire body was ruined and wrecked and your mind was falling to pieces but you had made it. Max, you made it. You landed safely in the net, and you gently touched the ground. They had expected you to weigh more than you did. Your poor dress- it was in tatters!

"I love you Max. Please wake up; please wake up, please- for me. I know you might not forgive me- hell, I _expect_ you not to, but please, for everybody. We've been by your side for six long weeks. The doctors originally said you'd wake up soon and you were _just_ unconscious, that's when I was told you could hear me. You've undergone serious surgery and your body is pretty fine now. But now they're talking about cutting off your drips and medications. They're going to unplug your lifeline; they're giving up on you. They already thought there wasn't much hope for you- you have to prove them wrong, Max! I know you're there."

Fang seemed to have stopped. I desperately tried to speak, but it was as if my lips had been sewn shut. My eyes were still leaded down and my whole body was _still_ paralyzed. Fang squeezed my hand and pressed a chaste kiss to my forehead, then my right cheek. I could feel Fang's lips lingering on my cheek and wanted to ghost the kiss with my fingers. But they wouldn't move! I couldn't even growl in frustration.

"Max, the doctors have let all the morphine and valium drain out of your body. You shouldn't feel weighed down at all. Why aren't you waking up? If you could just pull through this, I'll stay away from you- I'll never trouble you again! In fact, I'd die a very happy man. _I love you._" I could feel more of Fang's tears dribble down onto me. His unsteady heartbeat thumped against my shoulder. It reminded me that my own heartbeat was irregular and weak in my hollow chest.

I heard voices coming down the hallway. Nudge was rambling on about something or other, trying to cheer people up. I could hear my mum and dad mumbling together, using a very low tone. I heard sniffling. Ella arrived in the room.

"Fang! I got you some food; you should really go for a walk. If Max wakes up, we'll tell you."

Fang grunted but stayed put. I felt really touched that he would be so loyal. Ella came to kneel by the bed. She patted my arm delicately. "Hey Max," she began talking. "Fang is convinced you can hear us, so. Guess I have something to say to you. Here goes. Um, first of all, you really need to wake up- for Fang at least. He's gone albino and he's really skinny! He hasn't shaven for a couple of weeks and he really smells." I wanted to smile.

"Ignore her, Max. I'm fine." Fang whispered something to Ella, causing her to sigh.

"But anyway, I just wanted to thank you. If it weren't for you, we would still be in there, probably not even alive. After the police found out who the people organizing the kidnapping was, they advised Father and your parents not to give any money, because you guys wouldn't be delivered alive. They planned to break into the place, but it's lucky they didn't, because they didn't realize how many guns the bad guys had.

"I owe my life to you- we all do. You're my role model and will be my hero forever. Max, I heard what happened with Cora and Fang, and I realize Fang's keeping something that happened between you and her secret. Max, I-"

Iggy and Gazzy came in next, walking up to the bed and interrupting Ella, followed by my parents and Angel.

"No change?"

"No." Fang sighed.

Somebody took my cold hand in theirs. Nudge's scent enveloped me. "Max. Before I told you to take your time, but unless you want to be buried under ground in the near future, I suggest you wake up RIGHT NOW. I mean, it wouldn't even be illegal, because as soon as they cut your life line, you'll pretty much be dead-." I'm pretty sure Fang turned to glare at Nudge. "But if you really want to be a coward, don't wake up, don't make an effort. Just g_ive up_. You're a great person, and the loss would be huge, but it's up to you in the end. I know that wasn't very nice of me to say but: you're the strongest person I know and if you were able to gather that much physical strength a few weeks ago, you can surely do the simple task called opening your eyes here."

A dull beeping sound started beeping faster. "You're agitating her, darling. Maximum, dear, everyone is waiting for you. You must be there listening. Can you apply a bit of pressure to Fang's hand there, darling? I must admit, that was the most astounding thing I had ever seen the other day. My son needs you." Arianna- wow. She cleared her throat.

"I realize I wasn't exactly the most welcoming when I first met you. I was quite hostile, but I have decided that if Fang wants to be with you and you him, I cannot stand in the way of your love. It is blatantly obvious to anyway who simply observes the way my son hasn't left your side in this ordeal, apart from the time it took for your surgery. He sat by you while he was only barely conscious himself! Fang wouldn't ever say it to you, but I think the shock of your near death hurt him further than his bullet did. "

_A bit late for that now, isn't it? I'm probably going to be dead and under the ground soon enough, _I wanted to mutter.

"I've known you for a month now- not including your coma- and although sometimes you can be a bit moody, your end shouldn't be like this. I've come to see that you really are a selfless person. I should never have accused you of being a gold digger. You don't deserve to die by internal injuries and bullet wounds. You are the type of person that the world could do with more of. You need to have a proper life, get married, have children- if that's what pleases you- and die at a ripe, old age."

I could still feel Fang's grip. He'd been holding my hand so long it felt like we could never be separated. I willed my eyes to open with everything I still had in me. I tried, tried, tried to move my head. I clenched my fist, clenched Fang's hand, grabbed it, and squeezed it with all my strength, pressed as hard as possible. I could hear my mother crying and Angel was sniffling.

"I'm sorry for everything, Max. When I annoyed you, agitated you, angered you, pissed you off, and dissed you, embarrassed you, made you cry- well, I don't think I've ever done that- EVERYTHING! You're the best sister in the whole world-"

I tried to form a smile, curve my lips a little, anything!

I felt myself begin to break the surface of the water. I squeezed harder. I could feel the veins and muscles in my arm tighten as they screamed for release. "Oh My God! Her fingers twitched!" Fang yelled. "Max, do it again."

There were gasps, scrambling sounds, shoes clacking on the hard floor. I heard my mother scream for a doctor, and my dad tried to calm her down. Then there were hospital staff rushing in.

"Max, sweetheart, can you do anything other than move your hand?" No, I wanted to scream. I'm purposefully playing dead, you morons. I _want_ to be buried alive in this stupid, semi-conscious state!

Fang was thanking God, repeating the phrase over and over again, said thank you about a bazillion times. My lips moved.

"She's smiling! Max, talk to me."

"Max, move your foot!"

"Honey, say something!"

"Grin again! Frown!"

"Squeeze _my_ hand!"

"Laugh!"

"Make a noise!"

"Baby, come back to me!"

"Fart!"

"EEW! Max, can you wiggle your fingers? The good ones, obviously."

"Maximum, can you blink now?"

"OPEN YOUR EYES!"

"BURP!"

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?

"WHEN WERE YOU BORN?"

"DOES YOUR BODY HURT?"

"CAN YOU ACTUALLY HEAR US?"

LEAVE ME ALONE! I wanted to scream. There was too much noise. The beeping was getting faster and faster. I heard the clock ticking every second. I could hear someone snoring. Some old grandpa next door was yelling for someone. I wondered why I had been brought to a public hospital and not the Nicols' private wing. I heard someone crunching an apple. Some coughing, someone turning a tap, nails running down a blackboard, chalk on a black board.

WHY WASN'T ANYONE ANSWERING THE PHONE! WHY DIDN'T THEY LET THE PERSON KNOCKING ON THE DOOR IN? WHY DIDN'T THEY TURN THE STUPID BELL OFF? WHY WEREN'T THEY EVACUATING- OR IF THE FIRE ALARM WAS FALSE, WHY WEREN'T THEY TURNING IT OFF? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE STOP YELLING? WHY WAS THE BEEPING SO LOUD? WHY WAS I HEARING RINGING IN MY EARS?

WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY?

The noise level was unbearable. Everyone was shouting in my ears. All that floating and progress I'd made fell away. I was drowning again. But the sounds wouldn't stop. The beeping was out of control. Everything was echoing. There was the phone ringing. No one answered it. NO ONE ANSWERED IT!

* * *

My eyes flew open. Fang exhaled slowly and embraced me in a huge hug. I noticed everyone was gone again.

I noticed that a black floor length curtain was pulled back, revealing an old man who was sleeping peacefully, but with a faint scowl on his features. His hair was mussed and crazy and his slightly open mouth closed and parted every few seconds. He must have been the grumpy grandpa who was complaining. Noticing the direction of my gaze, Fang grimaced.

I blinked once more and Fang slowly stood up, making a huge show of it. He shut the curtains, closing off the rest of the world until it was just us two. The enclosed space felt surprisingly intimate, and I could've pretended it was one of Fang and my few dates, minus the disgusting smell.

"Hi. You smell bad." I said, testing out my rusty voice, blinking at the harshly bright lights. Fang's mouth twitched.

"Hi you," he said back. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." I croaked out. "Well, at least when I could remember you." I slowly sat up, groaning. "I feel like I was hit by a bus, then driven over by four cars, then finally squished by a couple of motor bikes." I groaned again and stretched languorously, rolling my shoulders. "Was my escape really that awesome, or were you making me sound better than I am?" I asked, grinning.

Fang touched his forehead to mine. "Ah, so you _could_ hear what we were saying!" I nodded and tilted my head a bit, inching my lips closer to his. I was feeling better already; it was as if some of Fang's bottled up energy from being cooped up in this dingy room with me was slowly seeping in through my pores.

Fang smiled against my lips. "You really were that great. I love you, my brave, courageous, beautiful woman." His warm breath sent my heart into overdrive, and, though I thought I was covering that quite skillfully, the annoying machine connected to me gave my game away. Fang chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and looked at him dead in the eyes. "You know we have to sort things out for real, not just brush things off. But I do forgive you temporarily." I told him earnestly and Fang's expression became rueful as he pulled back.

"So, no 'hello, I'm back' kiss?" He remarked, disappointed, unwrapping himself from me.

I looked at him wryly, leaning forward again. "There's no rule to say we can't indulge a little bit, now is there?"

Hope flared in Fang's eyes. "Definitely not on my part." He agreed and kissed me. It was then when I remembered how much I enjoyed Fang kisses. My arms found their way to around his neck, and somehow I was once again encircled in his embrace.

I rolled on top, my body itching to be active and move again. There were some flabby bits of flesh on my arms, I noted with disapproval. Fang deepened the kiss and a sigh escaped my lips. I felt like I'd just arrived home after a holiday.

Fang spun us round again, and matched me limb for limb; his legs on my legs and his chest pressed upon my chest. The only thing keeping his weight off me was his elbows, which he was leaning on. Fang's gaze was full of warmth and happiness. He peppered a trail of kisses down my throat, making me shiver. I clutched him tighter, and then gasped raggedly when I felt the sharp pain.

"Shit!"

Fang quickly scampered off me, concern written on all his features. "What? Did I hurt you?" he demanded.

"No," I was quick to reassure, "Just forgot the almost healed broken fingers." I wriggled them expertly, ignoring the jolts of pain.

Fang relaxed. "Now, where were we…?" he asked suggestively and I giggled, ripping off the sticky suction tape that held numerous cords to my body- sounding a few alarms. I yanked Fang's lips to mine and he smothered me in his scent. I couldn't get enough of him. Before I knew it, I had pushed Fang onto one of the waiting chairs and his shirt was on the floor. Fang's hands slipped under my hospital gown-yeesh- and traced patterns on my stomach.

"Gross! PDA!" Fang and I broke apart guiltily, both grinning like idiots. Angel wrinkled her nose at us, but I knew the hormonal side of her was checking shirtless Fang out. Ella was beaming, looking between the two of us.

"Does this mean you two are officially a couple? Nudge said she knew you two would end up together!" Fang scratched the back of his neck, unsure of himself.

"It's your call." He announced, looking directly at me.

I pretended to contemplate the thought of being Fang Nicols' girlfriend. There were definite perks, for instance- _Fang's lips_ but there was also that whole 'kidnapped' shebang. Fang _had_ had that quick thing with _her_, but he'd stayed next to me for 35 solid days, only going to the toilet and to eat food. Most of the girls in the country _did_ want him, but I _had_ him hook, line and sinker.

I smiled and looped my arm- the good one- around Fang's waist. "Duh we are! Did you doubt us for a second?"

* * *

**sooo.. I have an epilogue. Anyone need anything cleared up? This is the second last chapter :/ Now's the time to pitch in. Thankyou to the anon who keeps reviewing :) I should be bothered replying, but you're aawesome is enough. Plus, if I went and find those reviews again I wouldn't post this chapter for another while.**

**Hope it was OK.**

**~Sall**


	21. Epilogue

**Hey! No, I'm not on hiatus. And this was supposed to be posted a few weeks ago but all my electronics got confiscated :/**

**I feel like I've come a long way with this story; I re read the first few chapters I wrote on Fan fiction. Not only do they lack length, but my writing seems to have improved. I'm so happy and proud of the great response I got for this story, my first FINISHED story (or, it will be really soon). Thank you all for coming on this amazing journey and hopefully you will like my new story, which I shall be starting fairly soon, called **_**Stay With Me.**_

**Big shout out to Zanera, my official Beta, TREX IS DA BEST, my tandem partner and faithful reader and KRC (whose name shall not be revealed from request), who helped with the mushy and mature topics approached in the story that Zanera and I just couldn't handle. Angel of Calamity- you keep me sane when I feel like going berserk and off my rocker! There are too many people to name, but if you reviewed, you made my day at least once, and I will always cherish your comments. (Sorry if that's really cheesy)**

**Fang got to start this story, so I am totally destroying my pattern and making Max finish. (instead of putting this at the end of last chapter, it just deserved a small chapter to itself.) Forward warning that it is cliched, cheesy, pretty rushed, meaningless, not that great... :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not hold any claims for James Patterson's ideas.**

**Without further to do or say, I present the last and final chapter :)**

* * *

**[Later]**

Well, as much as I'd dreaded the moment, The Talk with Nora/Cora/Ingrid wasn't actually so bad. I'd tried to keep is casual, yet steely and meaningful. Mostly: keep your mittens off my man.

We'd picked a huge garden to have a talk about 'life' that had been coming for a while. The rustling sound the tree leaves made when the wind blew was strangely therapeutic. I sat under the cool shade of a willow tree in some three quarter length jeans and a thin light yellow loose, short-sleeved top, with a sketch book lying next to me. I didn't draw very well, but the shrink I had been seeing for a few weeks prompted me to try drawing to relax and find inner peace.

Fang and I had been forced into _couple counseling: has your partner cheated on you?_ The name they'd given their program made me want to gag, but I went along anyway, so as not to lower Arianna's view of me. I was treading on fine water, and she acted like the touching speech in the hospital had never happened.

The very young man mentioned was sitting at a bench a while off, to make me feel better and more comfortable, listening to his iPod (which was his method of relaxation) and with his face turned to the light sun rays.

My hair had been trimmed to just below my ears and I had a new side fringe, as if to cut away all the problems I'd faced. I wasn't likely to forget what had happened, but I just tried to agree with people more than usual. A bright green head band pushed the hair that wanted to blow into my face out of my eyes.

I saw my ex-best friend walking gradually along the winding path. She shielded her eyes from the sun, and spotted me, under my favourite tree. She grinned and hurried across the soft, springy yellow-green grass and collapsed besides me.

"Hey, N-C-Ingrid!" Real smooth, Max, I congratulated myself.

"My name is Cora now, Max." I understood. Cora looked at me awkwardly, and then cleared her throat. "I guess I have a lot to explain. I'm not going to mince words. Mother has persuaded me to see someone I can talk to, but I think words mean nothing if said to the wrong person. You and I have a lot of things to say to each other. You see, when I found you'd had _sex_ with my boyfriend- ex boyfriend- I was so mad. You have no idea.

"First, you skipped town without a whisper. Do you know how humiliating it was when I insisted you were just taking an unexpected holiday and you'd be back, only to hear from _Lara Middlebury _that you were GONE? No, you don't- oh, that's right. Because you _skipped town_." I grimaced guiltily. This whole mess was pretty much half my fault. Cora had always been the nicer of us two back in high school. She was less scheming and plain cruel, but always joined in if I brought up anything.

I took the opportunity of a new place to change. And I made it happen. By immersing myself in nice crowds and studying, I forgot about the old me. I had created a chance for myself and by remaining slightly boring and unsociable, my bad attitude slowly ebbed away.

"Look, Inga-Cora, I wasn't a good friend at all. I was a bitch. Every time you got a boyfriend, I immediately set on charming him and stealing him. Alan, Brett, Connor, Duke, all of them. But then I was mean to them and dumped them. So you wouldn't take them back, and I'd embarrassed them. I was a horrible, manipulating skank. Can't you start to see why I had to go?"

Cora stared at me, mouth open. Yeah, so I'd pretty much insulted myself. No biggie, do it all the time. "Together we owned the school. All the guys wanted us, waited on us and even the un-single guys flirted with us. Captain," I pointed to myself, "Co-captain," I pointed to her. "Of the cheer squad. All the girls wanted to be us, with us or like us. But when you told me secretively that you were _in love_ with your boyfriend, I was so jealous. I only got one night stands, or weekly changing boyfriends. So I set my mind on him.

"I planned it all out but then this guy slipped something into my drink. I was drunk and drugged and then, there he was. We went into the private bar and well, you know…"

Cora looked disgusted and all those feelings I'd pushed way down were rising again. I felt physically sick at how vile a person I'd been. Luckily Angel, Iggy and Gazzy had the sort of brains that only remembered the good times. My parents were too forgiving, sweeping the whole issue under the rug and never bringing it up as I'd begged. They'd sensed a change in my attitude and wanted to give me a chance.

"I can never forgive you." Cora said simply. But she already had a free look in her eye

"I know, and I can never forgive you." I returned. I couldn't- now that I was older, I knew that I was _in love _with and loved Fang. Maybe it wasn't forever, but it'd be a damn long time for sure. What Nora had done was despicable, in the same sense my actions had been. A drug and alcohol influenced mind of a 16 year old could hardly compare to that of a 20 year old's brain. I wasn't making excuses; just weighing the facts.

Cora grinned, and then sighed gustily. "I'm even sorrier about Fang. I just… When I was sure you guys were into each other, I knew stealing Fang would be a really hard blow. I swear we didn't go any further than some under the shirt stuff... " I'd already heard this from Fang, but it was nice to hear it repeated.

"But I really do like him. Plus, he's an excellent kisser and totally fit. If you _ever_ want to ditch Fang for my loser of a brother- yes, I didn't miss any of those flustered looks- call me. I'll be there!" I laughed. Nate was OK, but all had been revealed; Angel and Ella both decided to move on. His cute little grin and ways could sweep someone else off their feet, but their friendship was too important to lose over a guy.

I'd overheard Iggy and Ella really getting into a conversation about science. He was boasting his knowledge and Ella actually didn't have to feign interest. She may appear to be a girly-girl, but she was a true tom boy at heart.

I had a question for Cora, "Wasn't kissing Fang sort of like kissing your brother, though?" I shuddered at the mere thought of having to kiss either Iggy or Gazzy. Cora laughed.

"No, he's not related to me by blood in any way. Nate belonged to our father's first marriage, I his second and Arianna is his third wife. However, Nate and I were always quite close as children, and eventually father agreed to house us together and when he decided he wanted to marry Arianna, we were bundled along to greet our future family. My mother was not a kind lady; she was spoilt by father and only cared for wealth and social position."

_Sounded a bit like someone I knew._

"Nate's mother died when he was born, so he never knew her. Then father divorced my mother but she refused to acknowledge that he sent her the papers. Nate was raised by my mother, but she became unbearable when there was a rumour going around that father was having flings with younger girls. She stormed around in drunken rages and together we begged father to let us live with him. He is quite an understanding man, and he would've already taken us in had it not been for the fact that he was often away on business. My mother finally signed the papers, and we were free of her forever."

I nodded my head in sympathy. "So who was the lady who was always at home when I went over there?" Even though I was cruel to everyone, Cora and I had had a real friendship. Yes, I was certainly jealous of her relationships, but we truly connected over most things, away from the ongoing popularity contest known as school.

Cora smiled gently, remembering, but offered no explanation. I guess that information would have to wait. But there was no hurry, we had a long time to rekindle or friendship, if that's what we both wanted.

"Truce: No more stealing guys and no more rivalries?"

"Totally no more stealing guys. But who said we can't thrash you guys at tonight's Trivia at the girls' high school?" I shook her outstretched hand firmly.

"And Max, if Fang cheats on you, or if you cheat on him. Don't give up without a fight. He's a keeper. We'll see about tonight, won't we, my dear frenemy. Your team is going down." She winked and walked off happily, picking a flower of its stem and inhaling its smell deeply. Fang came over and bent down, giving my hand a squeeze.

"What did she say?" he wondered curiously, probably staring at my disbelieving face.

I smiled and pulled down on his arm, lifting myself up, grabbing my notepad.

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out." I started to pull Fang along the faded brick path.

Fang chuckled, raising an eyebrow challengingly. "Oh yeah?" A smile teased the corners of his mouth.

I stopped walking and turned to face him. "What was that 'oh yeah' for?" I demanded.

Fang chuckled lightly, and placed his hand on my waist. I swatted him away with my book laughingly. Fang shrugged, "I'm just betting everything I have that I'll be able to convince you to tell me." Fang bent down and brushed my lips with his. Just his touch alone sent my heart into overdrive and my head swimming. I eagerly parted my lips, ready for more kisses and Fang straightened back up.

"Nuh-uh. Only if you tell me what Cora said." I could see where this was going and stuck my tongue out at him. I dragged Fang further down the path, enjoying the feeling of my hair blowing around. Fang jogged a few steps to catch up. He looped his arms around me and forced me to a halt, next to a white hexagonal rotunda.

"Max, I have something really important to ask you. NO! I'm not proposing, stupid. Gosh, you should see your face. Before I ask you my _non marriage related_ question, I have to…basically _beg_ if we can start afresh. I realize we've only gone on about three dates, and none of them were official."

I smirked. "Depends what your definition of date is. If it's having your hand up my shirt, I'm pretty sure that's more than three," I teased.

Fang's face turned a dark shade of red but he was grinning crookedly. "Hey, you _like_ it when we get that far."

"Okay, okay." I tried to change the subject so I could find out what Fang's question- not related to getting married- was. "You can take me on our first _official_ date tomorrow night. You know, I'll probably be moving out soon."

Fang looked surprised. "What? Why?"

I shrugged, "I'm not The Nanny anymore."

Fang swayed us and brushed back a flyaway hair that had somehow gotten trapped between my lips. "No," he agreed. "You're not the Nanny anymore. But I prefer it like this." He gently cupped my chin with one hand, keeping his other arm wrapped around my waist.

I stared into his pit less eyes. "Why do you prefer it?" I wanted to know.

Fang smiled, bending down to hover a centimeter from my lips. It took every muscle in my body to stop me from lifting my face to close the distance.

"Because I wouldn't be allowed to do this," then he leaned down ever so slowly and just as our lips were meeting- snagged my sketch book from my hand.

"Oi, come back here! Fang Nicols! Give that back!" We disturbed the pigeons, running through them causing them to jump up and fly away, squawking in protest.

"You still need to ask your question!"

Suddenly Fang had disappeared. I looked around- he couldn't have run _that_ fast. It was mainly open grass. I muttered to myself and waited for him to re appear (with my book).

He lightly dropped down from the tree I had been standing under. He held out the book and I narrowed my eyes, not trusting the innocent look in his eyes one bit.

"So you want me to stick around so you can mock me about my hideous art skills?"

Fang's lips twitched. He flung the forgotten sketch pad on the ground and pulled me up for a proper, tingling kiss.

* * *

"Max! Our cheerleading team has made it to nationals next year! You have to put it in your diary right now. AHHHH! Ella and I are so excited!" Angel and Ella jumped up and down, squealing.

I turned to them both. "I would love to be there for you girls, but I won't be here."

Angel looked confused. "You're going away to college _now?_"

Fang chuckled. I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck. "No…"

**[Beforehand]**

"_It's customary in my family for the family business and inheritance to be passed on when the son turns 23. I've decided to spend my last year free travelling on my own ship." Fang smiled wistfully, as if he was already on that boat, exploring the world._

_I bit my lip. It all sounded wonderful, but what did it have to do with me?_

"_I want to see this world! In my belief, you only get one life- at least as the person you are. I want to do everything, try everything I can. _But_- I would also like someone to travel and be happy with..."_

_He trailed off, wondering to see if I had caught his drift. __I smirked- at least I could put off college for another year._

_I nodded my head. "I like boats."_

I now know it isn't money, possessions and just experiences that make life worth living. It's who you spend them with that makes moments memorable.

* * *

**And there you go. I had a better last paragraph, but FF deleted it and I couldn't remember :/ I know these last few chapters definitely weren't my best work, but I'm excited about my new story. So, please add me to alerts or check in again :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed one last time. **

**I might do a few chapters as afterwards, I haven't decided if they'll be added here or a new story. Not in the immediate future, but I already know what the chapters will be about.**

**Shadowhunter: no hiatus, just me being lazy and paying more attention to my other story. Sorry :)**

**BTW, I have a Tumblr: . if you want to check that out. ;) I would appreciate a follow if you have Tumblr and just tell me who you are, I'll follow back.**

**The last sign off from SallSall for The Nanny,**

**Have a lovely day. :D**


End file.
